A Hero Alone (ON HIATUS)
by Lil' Hedgepig
Summary: "A boy began to hear voices in his dreams; pleas for help, but when things get personal, Link takes matters into his own hands and along with Beth and Makar by his side, sets off to defeat the evil wizard, Agahnim and save the maiden, Zelda from being sacrificed."
1. His Call

_Author's Note: Hello everyone, welcome to chapter one of my first story! I've always been a big fan of the Legend of Zelda series, so I thought it would be a good idea as my first fanfic. It's very loosely based off of Link to the Past, just so I can have some practice with forming my own psuedo-story. Any reviews, follows, or favorites are greatly appreciated! I hope to see you in the next chapter!_

**Chapter 1: "His Call"**

He remembered her voice coming to him in his dreams. It was so faint and hushed, yet at the same time it was afraid and quickened. He could remember her words coming to him every night since only about three nights ago. It repeated itself so much that he had it memorized exactly to what it says; it was never different.

"Help me. Please help me. I am a prisoner in the dungeon, my name is Zelda. The wizard has taken over the castle; corrupted the guards. He is sacrificing the maidens, and I believe I am next. You must help me."

For all he knew, it went something like that, but the rain made the voice inaudible at time. It was hard for him to know whether or not his uncle heard it also, or if it was just him. Link noticed that he looked rather distressed for the past few days, so he could only assume he heard it too. Link didn't have a clue as to how he could help that maiden. Uncle never let him leave the homestead unless to go with him into Kakariko Village, other than that, Link stayed at home tending to the fields while Uncle left to chop lumber from the Lost Woods, which is a dangerous place from what rumors were heard.

Link laid there in his bed, listening to the rain pour down harder than previous nights. He stared blankly at the ceiling of the cottage, awaiting her voice to attempt to call him, but something didn't feel right, as if something was different; wrong. His uncle just sat at the table by the light of one candle. Link assumed that he was either reading or staring, but the darkness makes it difficult to tell. It felt like an eternity to him, but it finally came.

"Help me. Please help me. I am a prisoner in the dungeon, my name is Zelda. The wizard has taken over the castle; corrupted the guards. He is sacrificing the maidens, and I believe I am next. You must help me."

Silence overtook the cottege. Link thought he heard the rain stop for the slightest moment, but the crashing of droplets soon started again. Not too long after, Uncle got up from the table, grabbed the candle, and moved through the darkness over to me.

"Link, I want you to stay here and get some rest. I need to leave for a bit, I'll be back by morning."

Link remained silent, watching his uncle grab the sword and shield that he kept by the door to defend them against wolves, then leave. Link knew now he had been hearing the voice also, and apparently, he was going to do something about it. Link carefully rose up from his bed and stared out the window into the black, wet world. He made his decision that he was going to help his uncle. Link quickly headed over to the storage chest, and dug out the old lantern that his uncle kept insisting didn't work, but Link knew for a fact that it indeed did. He reached for his cloak and left the house, heading after his uncle. The first thing Link felt after stepping outside was the immediate bombardment of cold rain. He tried to ignore the cold, and shuffle his way through the dark. As he moved about, He took notice of lights far off in the distance and assumed that it was most likely the castle lights he was seeing, so he embarked on his long trek to the castle.

Link had to take it slowly as he made his way to the castle because the rain was coming down so quickly that it stung as it hit skin and it made seeing almost impossible. Link found that walking regardless was difficult because of the lack of solid ground for his footing. It was nothing but mud. He started to draw his thoughts back to what was around him, and he realized, as he neared the castle gate, that more guards began to patrol the banks of the river around it. The first instinct that came to him was to hide. He didn't know what would happen if he was seen by those patrols, but he couldn't think of any pleasant things. He couldn't think of any other accessible way into the castle except the bridge. Link had to risk moving around the guards.

"By the Goddess, it's cold, wet, and terribly dark. Why is the captain making us stay out here and patrol?" A guard blurted out with harshness.

"I don't know, but if he wants us out this late, it's gotta be important." His companion replied.

This little snippet of dialogue was enough for Link to start asking questions to himself. He recalled saying that the guards were corrupt, but it certainly did not seem like it to him.

Wiping the water off his eyes, Link noticed that the downpour began to slow down and that the sun was rising, which meant he didn't have much time left to get inside the castle. He carefully made his way across the bridge and arrived just outside the keep. He was able to avoid the guards, but he wasn't sure where to go from there. He decided against sneaking into the keep via the front door, but he didn't know how else to get inside. He started to wander around and look for any other alternative route, but found. As he made his way back around to the front of the castle keep, he noticed a piece of paper stuffed inside the branches of bush. After a few moments of concentration, Link was able to retrieve it. He took it and read it, though it required some effort as it was drenched.

Follow the courtyard path. Find the secret entrance.

Link had no other leads so he did what the note instructed. He returned to the courtyard path and browsed about for any way in. He did notice that there were more plants here than anywhere else around the castle, so he started checking around the bushes. It didn't take him long to find the right one, which covered a hole he could not see far down into. He racked his brain to decide whether or not this was the secret entrance not, so he jumped.


	2. Exploring the Castle

**Chapter 2: "Exploring the Castle"**

Link found himself at the bottom of the hole, his headed throbbed a bit, suggesting he hit his head on the impact. On top of that, he was laying a pool of freezing cold water which made the rain from before seem welcoming, causing him to quickly scurry out of it and onto the dry, stone floor. It took him some time to gather his wits again. Once he did, he had to regain his focus before he realized that it was too dark to see anything down there. He groped about in the dark for a few moments, having to return to the pool to find his lantern he brought along with him. He got his hands on it and shook the water out of it, hoping now that it wasn't ruined. Link attempted to light it a couple of times, and it eventually caught. Link gave a sigh of relief.

Link moved along the wall, heading down the hallway until he reached a staircase leading up. He hoped this would take him to the keep somehow, though he was undoubtedly motivated by the fact he had a path he could follow now. His thoughts strayed to his uncle. Link didn't know how he would've got inside, if he was even inside. Link then wondered if his Uncle had left that note there for him to follow along. Those were just thoughts, however, and they soon became worrisome and filled with grief as the sight of bodies lined the side of the path. Link counted only three, but no doubt, they were killed. Link kept his lantern close as he navigated his way through the hallway. His heart skipped a beat when a deathly sound that resembled a moan echoed through the halls Link was walking. He quickened his pace but kept his steps lighter and softer. Link couldn't comprehend what was the source of that awful noise. His mind froze almost at an instant as a terrible thought that it might be that of his uncle. Link didn't think of how he might react to that.

Though, something poked at the back of his, some dreadful thing that seem to keep hold on what seemed inevitable. He entered into the first doorway he saw and his worst fears came to pass. Link scanned the room and that was when he saw his uncle, leaning against the back wall brokenly. Link could already feel himself breaking down at the sight of him. He scurried over to his uncle and fell on his knees.

"Uncle? What happened to you?" He said quickly, worried beyond belief.

He slowly opened his eyes which he had shut tight in order to combat the pain.

"Link... I thought... I told you to stay at the cottage, my boy." He rasped, trying to hide the pain from his voice, though he gathered up the effort to show Link a smirk. "You never did listen to me, really, but... that's alright."

Just those few sentences were enough to cause him to force out a deathly moan. Link shivered at the sound of it.

"Uncle, please! Where are you hurt?" He pleaded to know.

Link's uncle shook his head and spoke softly.

"Forget about me, m'boy. I'm not important, but there is someone in this castle who is. That voice of the girl you heard, she is in this castle, and she's in grave danger." Uncle explained, trying to keep his voice from fading. "It's up to you now. You have to sneak into the castle and rescue the maiding. I know you can do it, Link. I believe wholeheartedly in that."

Link couldn't fight back tears. He could not accept that he'd have to go on without his uncle, on some quest to rescue someone he had no knowledge of. It seemed preposterous to him.

"Uncle, I can't leave you here alone to die! I definitely can't save that maiden by myself! Please, I need you to come with me!"

Link's uncle laid his head back, greatly fatigued from suffering through the wounds he acquired. He closed his eyes again and breathed a labored sigh filled with pain.

"Link. You have to do this, because no one else can. If the maiden is sacrificed, things will take a turn for the worse. Please, m'boy. Take my sword and shield, and just go. Do not worry about me. I've always taught you what you needed to know. You need to put that all into practice now." He said to him, before falling silent.

Link sat right there next to his uncle, the only person who he ever knew as family. He was passing, and there was nothing Link could do to fix it. It was a doomed situation. Link waited and waited until his uncle addressed him one last time.

"Link, m'boy, know that I love you and am proud of you. You must carry on by yourself."

He said before he breathed out one last breath and then he was laid to rest. Link began calling out to him, but no response came. Link was alone now, and there was nothing he could do about it. This burrowed heavily into his heart, and it seemed to harden as he stood and took up the weapons of my uncle.

He stood there, now completely alone. Something inside of him begged earnestly not to go on, and just sit there next to his uncle. He decided that he didn't want to do anything for the maiden, but he knew he had to, for his uncle. He seemed so set on Link saving her, he must've have known something that Link didn't. Link questioned whether it would be worth it. Link forced himself into it. He'd save Zelda, somehow. He didn't think about what would happen afterwards, that was to say if there was going to be an afterwards. It could all end in failure without a second thought for him. There was no way to tell exactly what he was getting into.

He walked until he found himself amidst a change of scenery. He left the murky, cold stone chambers and entered into an elaborate, dazzling palace room. He could see all of the colorful carpets and banners, the marble wals, the stairs, and padded seats. He could see the vaulted, polished stone roof. Link was so lost in the beauty that he almost didn't realize that there were sounds of footsteps approaching. Link snapped out of it and went for the first place he saw that would provide him with cover. Once he we was sure the sound was gone, he moved back out to the open. Link noticed that those footsteps seemed too systematic, too mechanical for traditional, evening patrols.

Another element of that place he was in that he noticed was how big the place was. He continuously got side-tracked by the winding hallways, massive staircases, and the dozens of rooms, that after trying to open, Link discovered were locked. Link found it to be a tedious problem getting around further into the castle floors. Link felt exposed even in hiding, which made moving around the patrolling guards even more nerve-racking. Though, occasionally, Link found it possible to take the keys from guards. Some were easy to snatch, others were so difficult that he was sure he was going to get caught. The silence inside the castle made Link feel claustrophobic in that gigantic place. It was so strange to him.

The elegance of the main palace and hallways seemed to begin to deteriorate away as he left it for the lower levels of the castle, most likely the dungeon levels where Zelda would be located. The thought then passed through Link's mind regarding why exactly that Zelda was in danger. He had no idea what he going up against, all he knew was that he had to break Zelda out. This was just another reason why he began to dread this whole task itself. It irritated him, that he was the only one to save Zelda, as his uncle told him. He was no hero, and he knew that. He was just a simple boy who live in a simple house. There were no qualities in him that denoted him as a hero.

Regardless of that, he had to do one thing if he did anything at all, and that was to find out who was responsible for the death of his uncle. He didn't know what he'd do then, but knowing who he was after would get him half way.

His time to think was soon spent as he reached the lowest level of the castle, he subconsciously led himself here. He found little reason to turn back so he kept forward, eventually coming upon the last door at the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, the door was locked. He did not have a key either, and the last guard he saw was at least two floors up. Link hardly had the intention of trekking all the way back, so he had to find another way into it. He slowly trailed the hallway, thinking maybe he missed something, but nothing at first glance spoke to him. So, he began to despair, and he fell to the floor by the door, sliding against the wall. His decent was interrupted by his back scratching against a brick in the wall. Link felt the brick shift further into the wall, and the lock mysteriously fall off of the door.

Link was surprised by this, but he hurriedly got up and went for the door. He pushed it open and peered into the room. It didn't take him long to realize that his search was over.


	3. Meeting the Maiden

**Chapter 3: "Meeting the Maiden"**

Link silently examined the room. This was the dungeon, but all the cells that he could see in the room were empty. He made his way to the last one, located in the left corner, before he saw her.

"Who are you?" Her soft, drawn voice asked, as if she had taken notice of him before Link even had a chance.

Link took a moment before answering. "My name is Link."

"And why are you here?" She followed.

"I came here to free a maiden." He spoke in response.

"You heard me?" She asked, as if contently surprised by it. "Well, then the Father's teaching did not go to waste on me." He soft smile touched her lips for only but a second. She stepped forward and only then did Link get a true view of the young woman. To him, she was beautiful. She was clothed in a vividly yellow dress, and gorgeous brunette hair. Her skin was a gentle white color. Link stood there, trying not to make it obvious he was staring at her. Luckily for him, Zelda didn't seem to take much notice of it.

"Quickly, now. We need to get this cell door open." She said. "I have a feeling that it won't take long for someone to discover you're here."

Link nodded and began to work the lock. He had some novice experience at lock-picking, but he often got frustrated doing so. Again, luckily, the lock clicked and the door swung gently open. Zelda offered him and smile and went to take a step, but froze as sounds of shouts came from the hallway. Link turned and readied his sword, though Zelda did not see such an action as a good idea.

"No, put that away. You shouldn't fight the guards if you don't have to."

Link looked at her, confused. "What should we do then?"

"We hide!" She said, running up to him and taking his hands for him to follow. She took them to the cell closest to the door and into the corner. "This is a blindspot. They won't see us."

Link wanted to speak up about it but didn't as he noticed three guards in yellow armor entered the room swiftly, not needing to assure themselves that the cell in which Zelda was in was open. They went straight to examining the room to the best of their ability. Link turned quietly to see the expression of Zelda's face. All that he saw was her looking back at him. She did not know of what could happen at this moment.

Link waited and waited for what seemed to be hours, but were mere minutes. The guards did not cease their search, as if they were confident of the fact that Link and Zelda were still in the dungeon - somewhere. This waiting was making Link more nervous with ever passing moment, and he felt if this did not change, he might end up doing something stupid.

Then, without a warning, the opportunity for escape came. All three of the guards entered into Zelda's empty cell. It took Link a moment to act, but Zelda helped speed things along by gently pushing him, keeping her hands on his shoulders. They glanced at each other, communicating with each other through unspoken words - eye contact.

Though the two of them had made to the door, their window of stealth ended there. One of the yellow-armored guards alerted the others with a slight call, though no distinguishing words were audible.

Link quickened his pace at the beckoning of Zelda to run, but made sure that was still directly behind him. The feel of her hands clenched around his shoulders gave him comfort in that. Link's mind worked frantically to recall the passages and staircases which he previously came from to reach Zelda, but it was no doubt much more difficult now that he was forced to think the route backwards, though by some good fortune, he seemed to manage his way well.

His luck began to change on him as he reached the palace base floor, which was no swarming with guards from ever corner. Link was not foolish enough to think he could fight even one, but his options for avoiding them were growing terribly thin that he was beginning to panic. Zelda could tell this without even having to see his face because she could feel him shaking from the adrenaline pumping through him.

"We need to reach the throne room." She said to him. "There is a passage there that is hidden, and will get us away from here."

Link could only get them there so quickly, having to constantly change his course in order to avoid the guards lined in front of him. The thought probed his mind as to how he was getting away with such luck, but he did waste any energy on it. He had his goal, and he was determined to reach it.

Once passing through the embellished doors of the throne room entrance. As if trained, the two of them quickly turned around and pushed the heavy doors shut. Zelda's eyes dashed around as she went and took up a long, gold candle-staff and placed it adjacent to the door, ultimately making it harder for the doors to be opened. The two then stopped and breathed, neither of each other looking at the other, yet.

Zelda did not take long for her to recuperate, and she began walking towards the throne. Link, on the other hand, did not feel as if he was ready to continue yet, despite the attempts of the guards to force the door open. Though he took steps after her, he was nowhere near as fast.

"Just, please. Hold on a minute." He breathed.

Zelda stopped and looked at him, as if to assess him.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Link managed to ask her.

Zelda scowled at nothing, then shook her head.

"Vague suspicions." She told him. "Though, I don't think it beneficial to distract you with them now."

Link took this as hostility, though it wasn't meant as such.

"So, then, you're not going to tell me." To his surprise, it came out as statement instead of the originally intended question.

This response caused Zelda to frown as she turned to examine the door, before returning her eyes to him.

"No, no, of course I will." She said to him. "Not here. I will tell you once we're safe."

"And where is safe?" He asked.

"The secret passage will lead us to safety. You can trust me on that." She said.

"Sure. Where is it?" He asked.

Zelda raised her hand and pointed to the alter behind the throne. Link followed to where she was gesturing, but did not seem to understand. He looked at her and waited, which seemed to make Zelda sigh.

"Look, just follow me. I can lead us from here." She said.

Again, Link took this as hostility.

"You think of me as incapable?" He asked.

Zelda shook her head fervently, though this exchange was irritating her slightly now.

"No, not at all, but we cannot take our time getting there. You want answers, don't you? The only way you'll get them is if we trust each other." She said.

It did not take Link very long to agree, giving a nod. He took a sudden step forward towards Zelda at the sound of a particularly loud impact with the doors. Zelda casted a hastened glance towards it and then resumed her hurrying to the alter. Link was able to join her. Zelda went to one side of the alter and began to push, but with no reward for her effort.

"Get on that side and pull." She said to him. For some reason, it did not seem like a command to Link, but a sort of authoritative plea. Link did so, and to his surprise, the alter did move out of the way, revealing a small cutout about half the height of his person.

"We have to crawl through there?" He asked.

"I didn't promise you this was going to be easy." She said.

"No one said anything about any of this." He said.

She held for a moment to look straight at him.

"Then how did you know to came and save me?" She asked.

Link could not hold back a smile.

"You'll have to wait just like I do."

Zelda was caught embarrassed by her own words earlier and sighed lightly, getting on her knees to crawl into the hole, but Link stopped her.

"Let me go in first, unless you already know what's down there." He said.

"I do." She replied.

"Then what does this hole lead to?" He asked.

"The sewers." She said.

Link had to take a moment to process that, surprised, though he shook it off.

"Still, just to be safe, let me go first." He said.

Zelda nodded and let him go through first.

Link did his best to crawl through, but he had to take his time. One thing that he did notice as he advanced further into the hole was that it was getting darker, and that would create problems for him and Zelda, as how much oil was left in Link's lantern was not known to him. Regardless, he hoped that he did have enough. He finally emerged from the hole and stood up. The environment here was significantly different from that inside the throne warm. Instead of being cold and dry, it was was achingly humid and uncomfortably hot. As he lit the lantern, Link found himself already beginning to dread the passage.

Zelda soon followed him and stood up, brushing herself off for a moment before looking around the passage they had come to. It was hard for her to see for a while as she had to let her eyes adjust to the change in lighting, and altogether adjust to the change in environment. Zelda shared in Link's feelings, unconsciously yet gently bracing against Link's shoulder. He took notice and looked at her for a moment, but said nothing of it.

"You know where to go from here?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I only have a general idea at best." She admitted.

Link sighed and began walking with her at his shoulder. He was happy most of all that there didn't seem to be anything dangerous done where there were, though there were times when he became fearful of what was around them. It took them a while to navigate around the tunnels and find their way to a sanctuary in Hyrule Fields, which Zelda insisted they could reach at some point from these tunnels.

Link couldn't argue with her because he knew he'd get nothing good out of it. Rather, he began to play at small conversations with her as they walked, learning little by little about her, and clearing the air between them, which seemed to make them both much happier now that they were not being threatened by death. Zelda even laughed at times, and Link held onto a bright smile in her presence. Link certainly did not want their time together to end, but as he thought this, it seemed they reached the end of the tunnels.


	4. Accepting the Quest

_Author's Note: Hiya, everyone, so this revision chapter was pretty long in the works, I know, but it reached well over two-thousand words in content alone. It also managed to put me even further back into story than I originally was, and still there's the entire story I have to sift through to iron it all out, but I will get there with it, eventually. (God, I'm such a mess.) Anyways, hopefully, I'll get worked out soon? I don't know. Let's hope, and don't leave me hanging!_

**Chapter 4: "Accepting the Quest"**

Zelda had confirmed it. They had actually reached the end of the tunnels with no issue whatsoever, as Link and Zelda began to move to open the door to the sanctuary from their side, they were stopped by loud voices. Zelda seemed startled by this at first, but pressed her ear to the wall. Her startled expression evolved into worry to indicate she was not liking what she was hearing on the other side of the thin stone cutout which separated them from whoever was on the other side. Link, unfamiliar with where they were, did not have any course of action to recommend, and Zelda seemed too pensive to think up anything either, so they waited.

"What's happening? What did you hear?" Link question in a deep whisper.

She subconsciously shook her head at him, before turning to look at him

"I think the Father is being interrogated." She said.

"What can we do?" He asked.

This time, the shake of her head was intentional. Link sighed silently and frowned. As he stood there with her, he could here the commotion of the other side increase, and it was actually starting to get to him, that was not to mention also that Zelda was looking so tense that Link could only guess she might faint at any moment of silence.

Link moved up the stone cutout to learn for himself how to open it, and once he had, he set himself up to open it. Zelda gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing, Link?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"Something." He admitted. "I'm not sure yet."

"You can't just go in without a plan." She scolded.

"I saved you without a plan." He pointed out.

She shook her head at him.

"You can't just rely on your luck." She tried again.

"I don't, or haven't really." He said.

Zelda didn't seem convinced of this but refused to carry the argument further. Though, she still was not satisfied, and her expression gave it away. Link found it surprisingly amusing. Zelda looked straight at him before shoving his shoulder.

"Alright, do something then." She said.

Link blinked and tilted his head.

"About that..." He said, fading off. He stopped to look to the stone cutout. "The minute I push this wall out, they'll know we're here."

Zelda looked behind them, a look of deep thought on her expression. After a moment, she shook his head at him.

"Well, not if one of us hide a ways back in the tunnel." She said. "It might be dark enough to stay hidden."

"So, you're suggesting that only one of us goes out to confront the guard while..." Link asked.

Zelda pursed her lips in thought. "It might provide an element of surprise for us if something goes wrong."

Link shrugged. "You hide back there." He said.

Zelda tilted her head as if she thought she heard a question. She seemed hesitant to comply with him, but did so, receding into the background. Link gave a unconscious nod to himself and prepared to push the loose panel of stone out into the sanctuary. They'd wasted enough time, though the guards still seemed to be hard at interrogating the old man whom Zelda knew.

He took a breath before the light poured into the dim tunnel exit, and Link placed his hand on to the hilt of his sword, albeit not confident. The baffled guards did not take long to respond to his arriving there, raising their weapons and shouting at him. Link felt himself unable to react as quickly as he had imagined, and this compiled to make him feel worse.

The Father, a short, lean man with a few tufts of gray hair left on his head, tried fruitlessly to place himself in between Link and the guards. Link watched for a moment, time draining slowly around him, before he felt himself nerved to shake his head and do the least possible. Combat was something Link had neither experience with or courage to attempt, so he retreated back into the tunnel, something that seemed like the best course of action, but in spite of panic, he neglected to take in consideration that Zelda was still in the tunnel as well. Link soon found himself trailing close behind Zelda, who was shouting a myriad of complaints at him. Link, however, did not catch any of them. Many of his senses were dulled somehow, as all but his sight seemed to fail him. His mind proposed different courses for him to take, but none of them made it into an action.

Link felt terrible upon thinking about the way he went about opening the stone cutout and then not reacting at all. He was able to notice that they were coming upon the end of the hallway, but oddly, this passage seemed foreign to couldn't discern whether it was like that because he was running for his life or that it was because he was running the opposite way he passed through here before. Link noticed that Zelda's movements were beginning to grow sharp in their rhythm. Link wasn't sure what to expect, but he fell further out of the loop of things when Zelda briskly turned one way immediately after passing into the room at the end of the hallway.

Link turned the same direction which Zelda did and got behind her. The echoes of footsteps betrayed just how much distance Link and Zelda were able to put between them and the guards after them. Link knew they had to make use of this opportunity or they'd be completely out of options. Now that he was currently stationary, Link felt the droplets of water that formed on his forehead. Link could only stand there and look blankly at Zelda. she surprised him when she suddenly returned the look with one of demand and snatched the sword he was holding right from his hand and held it up.

Link's face betrayed his shock. Certainly, he was very welcome of Zelda actually coming up with an idea, as it was more than he could get himself to pull through with. Link considered her incredibly bold, however.

The first of the guards had just positioned himself parallel with the door frame when Zelda swung the sword down, knocking him down. She did this in a similar fashion to the other guards as they filed one by one out of the passage, ultimately forming a pile of guards struggling from both the pain of Zelda's strikes and the frustration of being piled upon each other.

Zelda returned the sword into Link's hands.

"Now, down the passage! Quickly!" She said, heading off.

Link was in a stupor. It seemed to have all happened so quickly. He became startled when the guards began to recover from being knocked out. He forced himself to scurry down the passage after Zelda. Reaching the end of the passage, Link made a slight leap into the sanctuary.

Zelda and the Father pushed the stone cutout back into place and set the alter to barricade it, stopping any chance that the guards might be able to force their way back into the sanctuary. Link wiped his forehead and braced himself against one of the supports of the structure. Zelda stepped back and displayed a sort of content smile. The Father was rather taken back by the whole ordeal.

"Well, I am certainly glad that worked out as well as it did." He said.

Zelda responded with a nod.

"Yes, I am too. I doubt we have a lot of time now. They know we're here." She said.

Father turned slightly away to shake his head.

"A pity we don't have the element of stealth about us now." He said. "There is a lot I would like to inquire about."

Link stood straight up, now having caught his breath.

"What can you tell us that would be most important then? What do we need to do?" He asked.

The Father took a moment to look at him before speaking.

"It is a matter that is too complicated to discuss in so short of a time-span." He said.

Link frowned.

"Then what?"

The Father gave a wary look of deep thought.

"I do not know enough yet." He said.

Link gave a look of annoyance to Zelda, who did not even respond to it, but just stared back for a moment before looking to the Father.

"Why were the guards so hostile?" Link continued to ask. "Where is the king?"

Zelda answered him.

"The king is dead." She said. "I am sure of it."

Link's expression betrayed his shock and unbelief. A Hyrule without her beloved king would lead to her downfall. Link shook his head slowly.

"Who is in charge of Hyrule, then?" He asked.

Zelda gave a barely noticeable shrug.

"The wizard, almost without a doubt." He said.

The Father looked up at her, his hand still placed firmly on his bare chin.

"A wizard, you say?" He asked distantly. "You must mean..."

A look of revelation dominated his features, which then morphed into a distinct terror.

"Agahmin!" The Father cried suddenly, which startled both Link and Zelda, who stared fixated on the Father.

"You know, Father?" Zelda asked.

"I know? Oh, my dear! You've not even the slightest idea. It is the prophecy." He said. "All of this mirrors with what was foretold."

"You mean to tell me all of this is the result of a prophecy?" Link asked. "I don't believe it."

The Father shook his head.

"No, my boy." He said. "If this follows prophecy, our victory is already revealed to us."

Zelda was as convinced as Link was. She avoided touching on the matter, as she wanted to know how exactly victory would be obtained.

"What does the prophecy tell us?" She asked.

The Father turned to her.

"It told of a evil magician arriving without warning, and how he would overtake the thrown without any resistance, attempting to secure power over this land by harnessing the power of the maidens." He said. "It also told of how a commoner would also appear and thwart the wizard before he was able to carry out his plan."

Link tilted his head, even more in disbelief.

"You must be joking, Father." He said.

"I am not." The Father replied.

"This commoner. You think it is me?" Link asked.

"Very likely. You did come without warning as well, and you even managed to prove yourself by saving Zelda before doom met her." He said.

"I went into the castle only because my uncle went. I saved Zelda only because it was my uncle's dying wish." Link said.

"What brought you here does not necessarily refute the prophecy. It is merely a subtle means to an end." The Father said.

Link stepped back and ran his hand through his hair, sighing.

"You don't expect me to try and stop the wizard, do you?" He asked.

"If you cannot, then there will be no one to oppose him." The Father said.

"I am just a farm boy! I'm no knight, or warrior, or hero!" Link said.

"So it may be now, but what will you do if not to take up this task?" The Father asked.

Link opened his mouth to speak, but found that words failed him. It was a thought that he had been avoiding since leaving his uncle. He was fearful of everything now, and his reactions were based purely on the spur of the moment.

"I do not know." Link admitted.

"Then, you understand why you must do this." The Father said.

"I'd do it only to avenge my uncle." Link said.

"If that gives you the strength to defeat Agahnim, then so be it." The Father said. "But, you must do it."

"Alone?" Link asked.

"If that is what it takes." the Father said. He noticed Link turn to Zelda as if to give a plea, but the Father responded for her.

"Zelda will have to stay here." He said. "It is too dangerous for her to be vulnerable, no doubt. The wizard would try again to claim her if given the opportunity. That is why she must stay here where I can protect her."

"The guards could return." Link said.

"I can handle them." The Father said.

"Alone, then. I have to do this alone." Link repeated.

The Father nodded.

"What other choice do I have." Link decided in a mutter.


	5. Being Denied a Home

**Chapter 5: "Being Denied His Home"**

Link only had to give a quick glace towards Zelda to realize the fact that she was stunned. It was not everything that had happened, but actually what was now decided as the course of the future. She caught Link's look and held onto for a moment. Her possession lasted only a short while before she focused her attention elsewhere. The Father had watched silently for a number of minutes now, his look of understanding slowly blowing away. Link shook his head at himself, standing there looking between the two.

"Where do I go?" He asked.

The Father looked up, a bit more attentive. "Ah, you're asking the important questions now!" The old fellow said. "It is a not a matter of why, but what next."

"What is next, then?" Link asked. "What do I have to do."

"Stop the wizard, of course." The Father said, invoking a critical look from Link, as the man's obvious answers were getting to him. "How do I do that? Don't just give me the facts I already am aware of." Link said.

"For us to come to an answer for that would require to draw upon the prophecy." The Father said. "The weapon used by the hero to defeat the wizard is what you need to get your hands on."

"A weapon. What sort of weapon?" Link asked.

"A sword. The sword. The bane of all evil." The old man responded.

"Okay, that's a start." Link said. "Where is it located?"

The Father flashed a smirk. "It's not easily obtained." He said. "You've got put some work into it."

"That was obvious. Legendary weapons are never easily obtainable." Link said.

"The issue is, however, that the way to acquire the blade is unknown to me." The Father said.

Link looked at him, a mixed expression on his face conveying both mild irritation and relief. "Oh, you do not?" He asked.

"No, I don't." The Father said. "Though, I know someone who might be able to point you in the right direction. He lives in Kakariko Village to the west of here."

"Alright. What is his name?" Link asked.

The Father put a hand lightly on his chin as he pondered this question. The first thought that came to Link's mind was just how accurate everything that the Father had told him. Doubtless, the Father seemed to know something, but there were so many holes in the information. Link went ahead with assuming what answer he would get.

He was on-point with that assumption.

"I do not think I could give you a confident answer. I'm old, and know many things and have met many people, but without a doubt, my mind is cluttered." The Father mused.

Link let slip the faintest of sly smiles at that and turned away, to look at Zelda. "You are staying here, yes?" Link asked.

Zelda nodded. "I think it would be best." She said. "I don't think it would be safe for me to be exposed out in the open."

Link bowed his head slightly and gave a quiet sigh.

Zelda tilted her head and laid a gentle hand on Link's shoulder, smiling softly. "I'm sure you will accomplish what is needed to be done, Link." She said. "You will find a way, I'm sure. You're more tactful than you know."

Link met Zelda's gaze and returned a sad smile. "Thank you, maiden-princess." Link said. "I'm glad to have your faith."

Zelda shook her head. "Don't bother with the formalities, Link." She said. "Still, take care."

Link nodded slowly yet fervantly at that. "Yes, thank you." He said, before to turning to face the Father. "And thank you as well, Father."

The Father bowed once. "I apologize I can't be any more help to you." He said.

Link shrugged. "It will get me well on my way." He said.

He now faced towards the two embellished doors that would take him out into the world. He was intimidated by what he was about to embark on, but he had little choice. Zelda and the Father were supporting him, yes, and the fate of the people of Hyrule rested in his hands. He could not just cast this aside. It was too late for that.

Occupied by his thoughts, Link had not realized that he had moved himself outside now. He stared around him as he tried to focus, finding before him a heavy-worn stone path flanked on both sides by various types of plants and flowers. Link found it rather comforting to see such a garden. It gave him hope and an encouragement to get underway with his mission.

Kakariko Village was his immediate destination now, but he thought that he would first head to his home. Something probably trivial for him to do, but he decided upon it regardless. Link wanted to see his home at least once before he would probably never be able to see it again.

The fields of Hyrule still maintained their natural beauty despite any magical threats, and that made Link happy. Link would have dispaired if this landed had been tainted the slightest by the dark magic of Agahnim, who, one way or another, would be ousted.

Link kept a steady pace as he followed the dirt path that lead away from the Sanctuary, feeling the gentle, crisp, early autumn winds blow through his blond hair underneath his green cap. It did not take him long at all to reach ground that was more familiar to him in little time at all, and he was considerably light-hearted. He slowed his pace to a brisk walk as he turned around a row of trees to behold his house, but quickly moved out of sight, ducking behind a tree to his right. The sound of various voices now touched his ears as they became interpretable words.

"What ye reckon we do with the place?" A soft, slurred voice asked. "Can we rob it? I bet this ol' shack's got some hidden treasures inside."

"No, we can't rob it. It wasn't what we were told." A smoother, lower-pitch voice replied. "We're to find the boy. His uncle's dead, but the boy was seen in the castle, and the wizard believes he'd come back here."

"Why we out in the open, then?" The first voice asked. "Don't ye think it'd be better if we'd be hidin' and bidin' our time until he shows up?"

Link slowly peaked around the edge of the tree and saw two men, one slouched, dirtier than the other, and less equipped. The other stood with a certain refinement about him and did not look at his companion.

The more noble character of the two shook his head. "I do not believe he will return here." He said.

The bumpkin fellow chuckeled a bit. "You think he's smarter than the wizard makes him out to be." He assumed. "Wouldn't that be worse for us? Why think like that?"

Link sighed, somewhat agreeing with the guy. The mercenary was giving him too much credit. Link shook his head slowly at himself, glad, at least, he had the element of surprise. Though, the question arose in his mind what did drive that guard to think him smarter. Link was proving him wrong just by listening to the conversation between them. Link wasn't particularily attracted to the idea of just watching, or at the very least, listening to them until they left, so he decided he'd make the best of his stealth and move around them. Despite the front door being impeded by the two guards, Link, without a doubt, had learned another way in. This was, of course, his home.

He rose slightly on his legs, just enough expose his the top of his head and his eyes. The two guards had no idea. Link prayed earnestly that it would remain like that, until he could get inside. He'd need some equipment before he headed to Kakariko Village, and without money, getting inside was his only present option.

"So what we do then?" The bumpkin fellow asked, scratching his head.

"We wait a while, to see if I'm wrong." The refined fellow replied, much to the dismay to Link. He felt more anxiety burden him at those words. Regardless, he would attempt to get in.

Link glanced over at the nearest tree and then checked the guards. They were not looking. Link scurried as quietly as he could, though that was little. He had no experience in sneaking. Already, Link could feel his conscience doubting his decision.

He moved to another tree. No change. Except the issue for Link now was that the only form of cover for him from where he hid up to the house was tall grass.

He was lucky so far, right?

Link got to his hands and knees and cautiously crawled out from behind his tree. He could hear inaudible murmurs from the bumpkin and occasionally, the refined fellow would tell him to be quiet. At one of these instances, the bumpkin, in frustration, turned his back towards the refined fellow, and unfortunately, looking in the direction of Link.

Link froze, held his breath, and waited. His mind raced through different ways he could react if he was seen. Not long though, Link began moving again, and for the moment, the bumpkin did not seem to notice.

As the grass steady climbed taller, Link found it more irritating to move through. It scratched at his skin, even through his clothes. He stretched the limit at which he clould raise himself up as he crawled. Link knew it was a risk, and under the circumstances, not one he should have been taking, but he did so regardless.

After what felt longer than it was, Link reached the edge of the homestead. He strained his neck to look up, and he was relieved to know that he made his way to the right point around the house. He just needed to get inside without being noticed, but as his luck would have it, the studious mercenary began to pace around the house. The bumpkin seemed to remain where he stood he stood and did nothing else.

The mercenary, without little doubt, would find Link if he continued with his thorough patrolling. The first time around, Link was not seen by him, but little could be said for the second round. Once Link say an opening, he slowly got to his feet and pushed the window in, as he knew it was the easiest way of opening it. The issue would be slipping inside both without gettings noticed and doing it before the first mercenary working his way back around to that side of the house.

Link put in a good amount of effort to make his movements few, quick and quiet, and then he was inside of his house once again. Both of the mercenaries outside were without a clue. Link couldn't help but flash a smile of victory as he closed the curtains behind him. Link assumed that either of the guards would not pay attention to such minute details.

He was inside his house now, and he let himself take the feeling of warmth that came with being in what seemed to be the safest place in the world to Link. It made him very happy to be here, but the stillness inside gave the atmosphere a sort of veil. It was the haunting realization that only he was here. His uncle would never return here like he said he would. The joyous feeling of triumph and relief soon faded away. It was replaced the the cold reality that Link found himself in. To be sent alone to stop an evil he knew nothing about, to Link, was something utterly unfair.

What incentive did Link have for doing this?

He shook his head at himself and started to walk around the interior of the house, taking great care to make his steps lightly. The presence of danger had not left him yet. Anything could happen if the mercenaries knew he was inside of the house. They'd also have the advantage too, seeing how Link had no obvious quick escape. It'd be a spur-of-the-moment thing, and that was something that Link did not feel comfortable with in the slightest. He assumed that it was similar that of which he felt fleeing from the guards in the secret passage.

He told himself that he had little time to continue bothering with these stressful thoughts. He walked silently around the house, gathering up this and that which he believed might prove useful at some point. He grabbed the essentials at best and also made sure to take a hold of the green amulet which was given to him by his uncle which Link kept hanging right above his bed.

That was enough to remember his uncle by. It was enough to get him to Kakariko Village.


	6. Wanted

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait, but a couple of problems arose and now they've been resolved! Enjoy Chapter 7!**

**Chapter 7: "Wanted" **

I knew that my newly assigned quest was not going to be easy. I was unsure how to begin my quest. I already had thoughts racing through my head. I assumed that if I was going to be traveling up the mountains, I would need proper gear. I had no rupees so I concluded I would have to find work to earn enough for what I needed. The best place to find work was Kakariko Village.

Kakariko was a sleepy, decently sized village know for its crafts; baskets, satchels, nets, and other wares. More importantly, it was known for its chicken farms. As a farm boy, I had my fair share of experience dealing with chickens and knew for a fact that any help that could be found was welcome.

I set off from the Sanctuary down along the road the ultimately lead to the castle, but I wasn't returning to the castle. I traveled for a couple of miles, and finally reached familiar ground. I had returned home. It was comforting to know that the cottage was still in tact.

I headed inside and initially grabbed a large pack. I began to fill the pack with basic necessities; rope, lantern oil, two light blankets, a canteen of water, matches, and as many loaves of wrapped bread I could find, along with other supplies. As I went about collecting these items, I swore I heard voices coming from outside. I stopped dead in my tracks and dropped to the floor. I slowly, and quietly crept to the wall. I began to listen carefully to the voices,

"...but why burn down the house? I mean, I don't think that the kid will be back, and his uncle is dead. Why not leave the house, or sell it for a profit,"

There was a brief pause,

"Look, I don't understand either, but I say we just burn the house down and get back to the castle. You don't want the same punishment that the last patrol got, do you? Anyways, I bet the kid is just crawled up in a hole crying somewhere,"

"Burn down the house? They can't! This is my home," I thought.

I made my way to the window, and peaked out. I saw a total count of seven guards. I knew I wouldn't be able to take them all on, so I concluded that my best corse of action would to make a run for it. I began to wait for an opening as for me to make my hasty retreat. I noticed that the guards had already begun to set up for burning the house down, and that I was running dangerously out of time.

I saw my opening; all the guards had their back turned. I dived through the window and sprinted away from the house. I had taken the guards completely by surprise to the extent that they were unable to give chase after me. As I ran, all I heard were shouts. I had no home and was a wanted man.

I made the long journey from my homestead to Kakariko Village. I wasn't eager to find what awaited me there. I knew that the guards would be searching relentlessly for me, so I had to be careful interacting with the townspeople. I entered the town and was greeted by a scene I was hoping to avoid. Kakariko Village was being searched by the royal guard. This only served to prove that the Wizard knew that I was out to stop him and he was doing everything he could to stop me.

I immediately left the main street and headed down an alley. I attempted to find a shop to buy what I could with what little money I had left, because it was obvious that I wasn't going to find work. I left the alley that I was following, and started walking along another main road in the village. I thought I was in the clear when I was invaded by a shriek,

"IT'S HIM!"

A little girl alerted. She then turned and dashed off before I could even process what happened. I was immediately surrounded by a myriad of different soldiers. I thought I was through, but I was grabbed by an arm accompanied by one word, "Run," That was exactly what I did, the person who grabbed me was able to shove the soldiers out of our way. I turned and looked behind us to behold what seemed like an army chasing us. We began to pick up speed and put distance between us and the soldiers when we suddenly turned a corner into a house. My rescuer closed the door and latched it then peaked through the curtains. We were left in complete darkness inside that house so I was unable to identify my rescuer. I stood frozen as sounds of heavy footsteps and shouts slowly disappeared. I heard a relieving sigh. My rescuer lit a candle, and revealed that it was an elderly man in robes who had rescued me.


	7. Friends

**Author's Note:**

**I'm sorry this took so long and it is so short. I'm just horrible when it comes to stretching out chapters. I hope you guys will still enjoy it! I've reached over 400 views and I'm so happy that you guys are liking it thus far. I promise that chapter 9 will be over 1000 words. If you guys have any ideas you'd like me to consider, either pm me or leave a review. Feedback would be ideal so I can improve my writing! **

**Chapter 8:**

"I am Malachi, elder of Kakariko Village, and you, sir, have trouble staying out of trouble," said the raspy voice of the man,

"I am extremely grateful for your timely rescue sir, but I can assure you-" I was cut off,

"I don't want to hear your petty excuse of your being discovered. I am willing to help you get started on your journey, but you must be willing to follow my advice. It's late, and there is much we need to discuss,"

The man explained how he was a friend of the caretaker of the Sanctuary, and that old man had sent a message to Malachi asking to watch out for me. I was glad to know that I was still being looked out for,

"I have the gear you need to reach the Prophet that lives on the mountain, along with other supplies that will be crucial to your trek up the mountain. I will also send companions to aid you. I believe that will be enough," The man said,

"I am honored sir, but why go to all the trouble of helping, I have nothing to pay with, let alone express my gratitude for your actions, I said, trying my best to be modest,

"You can repay my actions by preventing the intentions of the Wizard; I am familiar with the prophecy that surround the events as of now, and I dread the thought of what would come about if the Wizard succeeds. The sun is set, and it is late in the evening, You should rest. There is a bed over there for you to rest on,"

"What about you sir?"

"Do not worry about me, I must stay awake and keep watch to assure the soldiers do not take us during the night,"

I was astonished; this man was taking a huge risk by allowing me to stay at his home, let alone giving me supplies and sending companions with me. I finally was given the opportunity to rest in a comfy bed since before I left the cottage, what seemed to me, months - even years ago, which was actually just two nights ago. So much has happened in that time though. I can't believe I was chosen to take on this task; I'm just a farm boy.

I awoke the next morning to the sounds of friendly chatter, and the smell of breakfast. I rubbed my eyes, sat up in my bed, and surveyed the room; it had taken a change of atmosphere much different then that of last night. I saw a young girl cooking on the wood-burning stove in the corner, a man just a little older writing down things in a journal, and Malachi was sitting in a rocking chair, reading. I could tell he knew I had awoke but paid no attention to me.

I got out of bed and went over to Malachi,

"You seemed rested Link,"

"I am, I much needed that sleep. Who are those people over there?"

"Those are your companions; they're going to go with you up the mountain,"

I was still unsure about the concept of companions, but I was grateful to have someone to help me,

"Who are they?" I asked,

"Their names are Beth, my daughter, and Makar, my son,"

"Your sending your children with me? I don't think I could ask you to do that sir,"

"I trust them and in their power, I know that once you three get acquainted, you too, will trust them. Now, come - I believe breakfast is ready,"

I followed Malachi to the table. We sat down and began to eat while he introduced me to Beth and Makar. We instantly became friends, and after a hardy breakfast, we sat and chatted for a good several hours. It was later than we had expected before we finally decided to head out,

"Do we have everything we need?" Beth asked,

"I've checked over everything at least twice, but you'll never know. I believe we're set," Makar responded,

"Alright guys, we're off! Thank you again Malachi!" I cheered.

It was the three of us against the world, but we didn't have even the slightest clue of what was in store for us. I was just happy that I wasn't alone.


	8. Runaways

**Author's Note: **

**Hello everyone! Welcome to Chapter 9. I've included in this chapter someone who I find as a very strange character, and I feel I may include him in something bigger later on, but no more spoilers for now! Enjoy! I would very much appreciate if you favorite, follow, and leave a review on my story! See you till Ch. 10.**

**Chapter 9: "Runaways"**

We set out from Malachi's home and slowly made progress avoiding the multiple search parties of soldiers attempting to track me down and stop me. I was extremely appreciative of Beth and Makar aiding me, but I feared for their safety. It was only by their sheer generosity and willingness that they were coming with me, and that was a debt I don't think I could ever repay.

We seemed to have the problem of being forced to take detour after detour to avoid the soldiers who seemed determined to find me. My only hope was that they wouldn't find out that Malachi helped me escape, but if they tried to question the old man at the Sanctuary, it's very possible they may have already linked Malachi to me.

Our path led us into what seemed an empty square, but we were met with something not even I could have expected,

"AMBUSH!" I heard Makar scream,

Within seconds of his warning cry, we were surrounded by soldiers who had their spears aimed at us. Makar and I quickly moved to protect Beth, unsure of what could happen next.

A higher ranked soldier came out of the crowd to 'meet' us,

"I am from the wise, majestic council of our lord, Agahnim. I bring a message from him. His majesty assures you that if come willingly, he will allow you to live; however, you have caused him a great deal of trouble, so if you are wise yourself, you would accept the offer,"

I was shocked, he had to be out of his mind. I stared at Beth and Makar, I could tell they were scared. I was too,

"Why would we go with you to that fiend of a wizard? He's evil!" I repelled,

"How dare you talk about our great lord and master like that, you incompetent fool, you had your chance to live, but no there is only death in store for you. Kill them!" He was furious.

The soldiers began to close in on us, but out of nowhere, an explosion went off. Makar called out for Beth and I to follow him, and we ran down a side path as fast as we could out of town. There was no going back for us.

It was already very late and dark, so we made the best amount of progress we could, and found a nice, secluded area to set up camp. The three of us talked for a good part of the night,

"How did you cause that explosion Makar?" I asked,

"I threw a bomb, I'm glad it bought us enough time to escape, I was actually quite frightened,"

"I knew it was a good idea to let you plan our gear out, brother," Beth responded.

"You two are lucky to have each other. I don't have any family, at least, not any more," I sighed,

"You mean it's just you, Link?" Beth asked,

"Yeah, my Uncle was my only family, but he was killed by those dreaded soldiers," I answered,

"I know how bad that must feel Link, our mother was taken prisoner by those thugs for hiding 'criminals', but they were just people trying to fight against Agahnim," Makar followed.

I was quiet saddened to hear this. The pain I was feeling was only a bit of a larger pool of pain of those who have suffered worse than I have.

We talked longer into the night before we finally drifted to sleep. We took turns keeping watch.

When morning did finally arrive, each one of us woke up and started to prepare breakfast. After we had eaten, we set forth toward the mountain.

We travelled for a great while with very little things of interest happening. We came to a grove near the base of the mountain, when I began to hear the sound of a flute,

"Hey, you guys, do you hear that? It sounds like someone playing the flute," I said,

Beth and Makar both stopped and began to listen,

"I don't hear anything Link, are you sure it isn't just the whistle of the wind or the song of the birds?" Makar asked,

"I swear, I hear it, it's a flute," I persisted,

"Which way is it coming from, Link?" Beth asked,

"This way, follow me," I commanded,

We went through a swerving path of tall oak trees before eventually coming to a secret meadow,

"I hear it!" exclaimed Beth,

"I don't know, I still don't hear anything, are you sure you're hearing a flute?"

"I'm certain of it Makar, if Beth can hear it too, then there has to be something out here," I said,

We proceeded closer and closer to the sound of the flute when we were eventually met with the sight of a young boy playing the flute surrounded by animals. It was actually an astonishing sight to behold.

"Well then, I guess there is a piper out here. Should we go say hello?" Makar asked,

"I guess I'll do it," I volunteered,

As I slowly moved toward the boy, I began to grew very stressed for some odd reason. I began to think if his music was magic, but I disregarded that thought. I realized that no matter how much closer I got to him, he didn't even notice I was there; it was like he was avoiding my presence, but at the same time, he didn't know I was there.

I finally mustered up the courage to talk to him after getting in close enough of talking distance,

"Hello there," I greeted,

Immediately, the boy stopped playing, and the animals scurried away. He didn't look at me until a brief pause, and the moment he laid his eyes on me. He vanished from right in front of me. My heart leapt inside of me. I was frightened. I turned around to Beth and Makar, and they were just as stunned, we stood there for a bit, and tried to figure out what had just happened. After a while, we gave up and went on our way.


	9. Mountain

**Author's Note:**

**Hey all! Sorry for the extremely long wait; I was kept up by my high school productions, but I'm back now. Enjoy this next chapter and see you at Ch. 11! **

**Chapter 10: "Mountain"**

Beth, Makar, and I proceeded a far way up into the mountain by following the ridge up for a good way, but we soon ran out of a set path to follow and were forced to climb up using our gear. We tried our best to make progress, but we had to take our progression slow as to be sure we didn't mess up and endanger one of us.

As we made our way up the mountain the best we could, the sun began to set and we were quickly losing daylight to work by. We stopped climbing and rested on a cliff that stuck out of the mountain. That night was a rather restful one for our group, and as soon as the sun rose to the point where it provided enough light to travel, we set back to climbing the mountain.

We kept ourselves entertained by making small talk with each other, telling stories, and laughing at Makar's jokes, who had an extremely good sense of humor. Although, it would grow quiet and we would just listen to wind, or the other sounds of nature. I found it to be quite peaceful.

Around noon, we stopped for lunch on a much smaller cliff then the one we slept on, it was so small that Makar had volunteered to stand so me and Beth could sit. While we ate, we began to talk about what could be waiting at the top of this mountain,

"I don't know who could be crazy enough to live up here," Makar said,

"I'm not sure either, but you always hear how the wisest elders live on mountains," I responded,

"I wonder if he's by himself," Beth wondered,

Whatever our guess was, we wouldn't know for much longer. We continuously climbed until we were too exhausted and we set up camp on the largest cliff we've seen. All three of us were dead tired and slept like rocks. It was cool and quiet up there, and I slept.

I awoke the next morning to a sudden surprise; there were moblins going through our packs. I quickly jumped up and armed myself with my sword. The moblins looked at me, then dropped what they were holding, then they scurried up the mountain wall.

I looked around the camp and realized that both Beth and Makar were gone. I cleaned up the camp the best I could, grabbed the packs, and then began to climb up after the moblins. It wasn't a very long climb, and I soon found myself in front of a massive complex of ruins. At the base was a cave entrance with a mess of items leading into it. I assumed that Beth and Makar had gone into there, but was unsure why they would. I wondered if the moblins had taken them in there. I wouldn't know if I didn't go in there.

So, with sword in hand and our packed swung on my back; I proceeded into the cavern.

It was extremely dark in there, so I lit the lantern I had brought, and slowly crept my way down the cavern. I listened for any noise, but all I could hear was silence. I called out once for Beth or Makar, then it went silent. There was no reply. This made me afraid. I began to fret over if they were in danger, or something worse. I treaded down further when I was jumped by two moblins hiding in the shadows.

They threw me to the ground, but I was able to quickly recover. I swung my sword at one of them but was only able to administer a wound. The two moblins came back at me for another hit, and I again found myself knocked over. My being thrown around began to tick me off, so as much focus I could channel into one blow, I slashed one of the moblins dead. The other moblin turned and dashed off into the cave. I followed in pursuit, but was unable to keep up. I stopped and listened for a good while, when I swore I heard cries for help coming from deeper in the cavern.

I made my way as far down into the tunnel as I could. I arrived in an enormous room lit up with torches. I scanned the room from my vaulted location, and to my horror, I saw Beth and Makar.


	10. Sidetracked

**Author's Note:**

**Hey all, here is chapter 11, hope you enjoy. I would love it if you took the time to favorite, follow, and review my story. I don't mind if it's even just pure hate. Stay tuned for ch. 12.**

**Chapter 11: "Sidetracked"**

What I beheld before made me jump so high up, my heart skipped a beat. By our luck, we had reached a set of ruins that were inhabited by an entire colony of moblins. As I stared down at Beth and Makar, I saw so many moblins, one would consider them an army. I soon realized that Beth and Makar were both unconcious, and that it would be almost impossible to free them, but I knew I had to try; I owed them it.

I slowly, and carefully made my way down to the bottom of the room. I was lucky enough that my decent did not attract any attention; although, I was still unsure how to free my companions. As I hid and thought about my possible actions, the moblins let out a screech so loud I was sure it shook the mountain. The moblins were planning to do something to my companions; whatever it was, I didn't know. I inched closer to the crowd of moblins. I was sincerely unsure on how to free Beth and Makar. The moblins didn't seem to be taking any immediate actions, so I set my mind to cooking up plans on how to free my friends.

I had an idea; I would have to create a large enough distraction that would catch the attention of the entire moblin group. I remember Makar saying he brought bombs with him, and I went digging inside the packs in a frantic search for them. I found them bounded up by rope. I cracked up the perfect plan to distract the moblins; I would set the bombs up at the far end of the room under the pillar. I would then detonate the bombs, which in turn, would collapse the pillar, hopefully erupt a large enough crash to pose a threat to the moblins.

I stealthily made my way around the moblin group to my desired location, planted the bombs, set up a long enough fuse, then I made a mad dash for the other end.

I suddenly felt a violent tremor shake throughout the room, followed by an ear-deafening explosion. My plan had worked, only partially however. The moblins' attention was captured, but was rerouted back into the form of chaos. The moblins dashed left and right in a crazy motion. I attempted to take control of the opportunity. I dodged and evaded my way through the moblin crowd until I reached Beth and Makar,

"Beth! Makar! Are you guys alright?" I asked,

"Awh man, my head hurts. Link, I want to get out of here," Makar shook his head,

"Beth, have they done anything to you guys?"

"Nothing to serious that we can't recover from, but I agree with Makar; We need to get out of here,"

I turned to see that the moblins were finally calming down and regrouping. I cut the ropes from Beth and Makar's arms and legs. Makar fell straight to the ground, and Beth hopped down gracefully.

By this time, the moblins were alerted of our presence and began to uproar again. I quickly began to panic.

When Makar had finally recovered, we made a mad dash for the exit, but we were blocked off by the moblins. They weren't about to let us escape. We clumped together, fearful of what would happen, when a flash of blinding light filled the room.

I heard what sounded like chanting, then another flash. The moblins were furiously out of control, beyond what I thought, to point of never recovering. Beth pointed to a ledge above us when I spotted a man with a long beard but a hood over his head.

The minute I blinked, the man was gone. I looked toward the entrance and saw the man in front of us,

"Quickly! Follow me!" He screamed,

We chased him down the hall, while being pursued by wild moblins with their clubs raised. We ran as fast as we could to keep up with the man. We had finally reached the exit. Once me, Makar, and Beth had made it out, he took his hands and pounded them together, causing the stones above the door to fall, rendering the doorway useless.

He took a large, long breath then started to walk away.

"Hey, mister! Where are you going?" I called out,

Beth and Makar only looked at each other. The man stopped for a moment then continued walking on. I caught up to him,

"Excuse me, mister, but why would you just walk away after saving us?" I asked blankly.

The man stopped again, turned and looked at me, then sighed again,

"You're an extremely persistent boy, aren't you,"

He walked a few steps, then turned around,

"Let me tell you why I saved you; I don't much like the moblins, and I also don't need dead travelers, so the only reason your alive is because of my morals,"

At this, he started to walk away,

"Rude!" Beth screamed,

The man abruptly turned around, marched right up to Beth and screamed at her,

"Careless!"

Makar pushed the man out of the way,

"Watch it, you don't yell at me sister, no matter who you are!"

The man laughed,

"'Who you are!', That is truly funny. You have no idea who I am. Ah well, better off you didn't know. Go home,"

He again turned to leave us,

"Who are you then?" I asked,

He stopped,

"I am the Prophet,"


	11. Training

**Author's Note:**

**Hey all, hope you're enjoying my story so far. Remember all feedback is appreciated. My extracurricular activities are done for now, so I hope to write a lot more. Hope to see you at Ch. 13!**

**Chapter 12: "Training"**

"You mean to tell me that you're the all-wise prophet we've been looking for. Frankly, I would have expected the prophet to be a kind old man, not some grumpy grandpa!"

Beth yelled,

"Yes, am I am the Prophet, and if I'm not what you expected, then too bad. The world isn't what you think up off the top of your head, besides that's no way to treat anyone, despite my 'bad attitude'," He responded,

There was a long period of silence which consisted of me, Beth, and Makar exchanging glances with each other, and occasionally with the Prophet. The Prophet finally got impatient,

"Well, I extremely doubt that you came all the way up this mountain, and getting captured by moblins just to track me down and mock me. Come on! Out with it,"

He blurted,

"Well, you see sir, we were sent to look for you up here by the caretaker of the sanctuary down near the castle. He said that you'd know more about the legendary prophecy and how to acquire the master sword," I explained,

Again, there was a period of silence, the Prophet stroked his long, grey beard, then spoke,

"I'm trying to figure out why he would have sent you up here, especially after the weapon of evil's bane. This task is not for a bunch of kids,"

"We're not kids! We're older, braver, and smarter than you make us out to be!" Makar protested,

"You're also quite foolish! Although, if the caretaker had enough belief in you to send you up here by yourselves, then there might be a chance,"

"So, you'll help us get the sword?" Beth asked,

"I never said that, although, it might be worth my time to see if you three even stand a chance. You all seem audacious enough,"

He stroke his beard again, grunted then told us to follow him.

We travelled through the course of the day through strange fields of cacti and other small patches of vegetation. It was late in the evening before we reached the home of the Prophet. It was overly extravagant for a single hermit.

He took us inside and had drop our supplies off in a corner while he went to light a fire. We went over and sat by the fire and began to talk about many things. Me, and Makar were still too suspicious of the Prophet, but Beth seemed to slow warm up to him.

As the night dragged on, I talked with the old Prophet about all that I knew about: The Wizard, the Princess, the Tri-force, the Master Sword, my Uncle, and other odds and ends. As we talked, Makar paid attention, but Beth fell asleep almost instantly as we started talking; although, it wasn't too long before Makar followed.

The conversation between me and the Prophet went on until extremely late, it was finally ended when the Prophet told me to get some rest and that I would need it for the days ahead.

I assumed I had changed the Prophet's overall opinion of us during that talk, but that was just what I hoped. I dozed off in my comfy sleeping pad and enjoyed the soothing sounds of the fire crackling and the Prophet humming soft tunes.

I awoke late in the morning to the old man reading, my other companions were still asleep though. I sat up on my pad when I jumped to the sound of the Prophet's voice,

"Good morning, you seem to be better qualified then your companions,"

I didn't understand, it could have been that I was still half asleep, or that I didn't know what I was 'better qualified' for.

"Better qualified?" I asked,

"Yes, only one of you can go ahead to take the tests and one day wield the sword of evil's bane, and you seem to be the better pick,"

"You mean my friends can't help me complete the tests?" I asked,

"Your questions will be answered in due time come on my boy, but now get your sword, for we will begin your training,"

I got my sword and followed him out to a small, flat, deserted area,

"Now, show me your best sword skills you possess,"

"Sir, I was only raised a simple farm boy, I don't -"

"No excuses, you will need improvement any way you go about it,"

The next couple of our featured me attempting my best at his assignments, lecturing, demonstrations, and then repeating the cycle with each new skill. Beth and Makar came out once in a while to see my training; although, they did not speak. I assumed they knew I was ultimately going to be the one to carry out this task.

During our sessions, we stopped for lunch and dinner. The Prophet forced me to eat a special set of meals he prepared himself, which he claimed was the diet of a warrior. I was hardly convinced. The meals were bland, and simple.

We continued our training late into the night. When we finally returned, we found Beth and Makar both fast asleep on their pads. We continued this routine for a few days more when finally, the Prophet said proudly,

"You are ready; I will tell you what you need to know,"


	12. Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry that I made Ch. 13 incredibly short, but I felt as If I needed to get something out to you guys, so enjoy. Also, please feel free to leave a review, and favorite and follow! I'd love it so much if you did. Be sure to check out my other stories, they're not that far along, but I'd love it if you guys would check them out. See you at chapter 14.**

**Chapter 13: "Goodbye"**

"Yes, there is a prophecy which speaks of one who will set out to overcome the challenges set long before the hero's time," He explained,

"Although, many details about what the tests are hidden from knowledge,"

"What can you tell us about them then?" Beth asked,

"Prophecy speaks that the hero must be deemed worthy and prove it by acquiring a certain number of pendents as proof that he is the one,"

"The prophecy is spoken as legend;

Long ago, here in the beautiful land that is Hyrule, legend speaks of an omnipotent and omniscient Golden Power that resided in a hidden land. Many people aggressively sought to enter the hidden, Golden Land, but no one ever returned. One day, an evil power began to flow from the Golden Land, so the king of Hyrule ordered seven wise men to seal the gate to the Land of the Golden Power.

That seal should have remained for all time, but these events were obscured by the mists of time, but this became nothing more than a forgotten story.

A mysterious wizard known as Agahnim came to Hyrule for the sole purpose of releasing the seal, and he eliminated the good king. Using dark magic, he began to make the descendants of the seven wise men vanish,"

There was a moment of silence,

"How do you know this if this has only begun to take place?" I asked,

The Prophet bowed his head,

"I am one of the seven wise men that sealed the Land away. I was at the castle when Agahnim appeared, but I fled here to save myself from the Wizard,"

There was another moment of silence,

"I have full confidence that you three have the largest chance of success if you choose to take on this test. I have seen Link's ability to wield a blade, and I have trained him as best I know how. I have began to realize the skills of you three at a grand scale as well,"

"So you believe we can make it?" Makar asked,

"Yes, but the road ahead will be dangerous and you may have difficulties, but I believe you three, together, will be overcome any obstacle you may meet,"

"I don't how to ever repay you for your knowledge and training you've given me and my friends," I said appreciably,

"There is no debt; I am beginning to wonder why I was so hostile to you when we first met. I suppose my mood was clouded by the foolishness of the people clueless to the evil that is growing even as we speak, but you three are young, bright people who are ready to seize today and change the future, but listen to me, I'm babbling,"

We laughed a little, it was actually a great feeling, but It was overcome by the fact it wouldn't last. The Prophet gave us food and supplies and was even kind enough to present Beth and Makar with their own specially made weapons,

"I would like to suggest that you start by going to the first temple here on the other side of the mountains. I would warn you that the moblins that live up here in the mountains are beginning to become active, so be careful,"

With that, Beth, Makar, and I set out from the Prophet's home and began our journey to the home of the first pendent, but the journey didn't prove easy.


	13. Memories

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone, so much for keeping up with the story so far. Be sure to favorite, and follow to keep up with chapter posts, also I would it if you reviewed as well.**

**Chapter 14: "Memories"**

It seemed to us that getting to the other side of the mountain wouldn't prove to be too difficult, but we were wrong. Unfortunately, the weather on the mountain continuously shifted. A part of the day, it would be sunny and deathly hot. The other part, a storm would develop and we would be flooded by heavy rains which leave us stranded until it died down and we could move again.

We travelled by following small, inlet valleys on the mountains. These in particular flooded the worst when it rained, but were the easiest to traverse during clear weather.

Beth, Makar, and I talked very little during our travel, but we all enjoyed each others' company. We would stop for lunch when the sun reached its peak and then get going again. When the sun's light vanished, we would find a nice spot to set up camp. From there, we would light the fire, and cook dinner, followed by a little small talk before bed.

As I laid on my mat, I listened to the sounds of nature. It was peaceful to hear the wind bounce of the side of the mountain. It produced a light whistle which was just loud enough that you could hear it.

I didn't have much a clue about what we would do when we reached the temple of the first pendent, but I assume we would figure it out as we went along. I thought of the Prophet's cautious warnings of the moblins that lived up here. So far, we haven't met any since we left, but because we ran into them getting up here, I knew it could have very likely happened again.

I awoke to the sun's rays laying on my face, which slightly annoyed me. I sat up and looked around and saw that Makar was asleep still, but Beth was awake and making breakfast. I got up, walked over, and sat next to her,

"Good morning, Link," she greeted,

"I'm making my mother's famous honey bread, it's really good. She used to make it all the time and give it out to the people in Kakariko Village,"

"That's really nice of you Beth, but I'm still sorry for the loss of your mother,"

She lowered her head,

"It's not your fault, but I do miss her. Although, I'm thinking that Makar is taking harder than I have been. He's still been having horrible nightmares,"

"Why do you say that?" I asked,

"Well, some nights, you can hear him calling out to her, other times, he'll be crying in his sleep. It's like he's living it over and over,"

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your mother?"

Beth looked away,

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that,"

Beth turned back,

"No, it's alright. Our mother was all for helping the resistance, but she was just one woman. All she could do was hide wanted people from the guards out looking for them, when the guards left, she would give them baked goods and send them on their way. Malachi knew about this, but was somewhat opposed to endangering the entire family by helping one 'criminal'. That was all mother could do though, help,"

She stopped a moment,

"On one occasion, she harbored two brothers into our home who were wanted for stealing weapons from the guards and as customary, the guards would go door to door looking for them, but this time, they were caught. It was because they were hiding in the roof near the door listening in but the roof gave in and collapsed, revealing the two brothers. This caused the guards to become furious, and they began to beat the brothers. Mom eventually used a broom to defend the boys, but was arrested finally with the brothers,"

She started to cry,

"They took her away, and we may never get to see her again. It was never like this before the wizard overthrew the kingdom,"

I felt bad. This wizard has caused so much pain to the people of Hyrule, and it was up to us to stop him before it was too late,

"I'm sorry I had to make you remember that,"

She nodded,

"It's not your fault,"

After a while, she stopped crying and regained her composure. Eventually, Makar woke up. We had our breakfast, packed up, and set out on our way. The wizard was going to pay, and we were going to give it to him first hand.


	14. Natives

**Author's Note:**

**Hello everyone, hope you're enjoying the story so far, be sure to favorite, follow, and review! Thanks!**

**Chapter 15: "Natives"**

We again set off to reach the temple of the first pendent. Our travel was fairly uneventful, but I kept getting the feeling that I was being watch. I didn't know if there were moblins out here, or if I was just feeling paranoid.

I noticed that there were no plants on this side of the mountain, just rocks. Although the earth had a darker tone on this side, like a burned look to it.

We stopped for a couple of minutes for a drink of water then we planned to continued on, but we were taken by surprised by the worst. A moblin had jumped out from behind a large boulder and smacked Makar right on top of his head. I wasn't aware of this until Beth screamed. When she let out her scream, I jumped up and drew my sword, ready to take them on, but there were already too many moblins for me to take care of easily. I charged into the crowd of snickering mountain dwellers and began swinging left and right and dropping many moblins dead. I turned and called out to Beth,

"Beth, get Makar and get out of here!"

When I called out to her, I hadn't thought that the moblins would go after her so quickly. This caused me to switch my position to cover Beth's retreat, but also gave me a harder time fending of the moblins due to the fact that I was forced to cover more ground.

I continued swinging as more and more moblins hit the floor with a thud, but as fast as I could drop them, even more came. They were swarming out of hiding, and I was left to deal with them all. I jumped back and looked to make sure Beth and Makar had made it to safety. I didn't see them so I had to assume the best.

I was slowly becoming overwhelmed by the moblins as they all tried to trip me up, or poke me with their spear and whack me with their clubs, so far, I was able to prevent this from happening, but I was getting tired from all the dodging and fighting I was doing.

I finally gave up for the moment and retreated a ways. I closed my eyes and breathed deep, as I did this I heard the wind picking up and it went dark. I opened my eyes, making sure to hold my focus, and saw an orange glow covering my sword. By this time, the moblins had surrounded me again and were waiting to take me out.

With the powerful glow on my sword, I gathered up all my strength I could muster, and spun. When I did so, the orange glow left my sword and expanded into a large ring of powerful energy. I watch in amazement as the ring of energy flew around me and caused the energetic moblins to collapse, some even dying as they fell.

I took this opportunity to run, but I found that I was unable to move hardly at all. The blast of energy I had shot from my sword left me worn out. Unable to run like I had hoped, I moved as fast as my body allowed away from the crowd of moblin raiders.

As I moved away, I turned back to behold a scene of chaos. Many moblins laid dead on the cold stone floor, while others were trying to get up, bit were unable to. The ones that were standing, were in a state of total panic. They continuously hopped up and down, in what I though was concern for their fallen comrades. It seemed to me that they were too concerned about their bothers to be worrying about me escaping.

I finally left the view of the moblins and began looking for my companions, but I was unable to. This had me frightened a bit, so my search became a bit more frantic. I proceeded to climb and higher cliff to survey the lower sections of the mountain top. I looked over the area and I saw a large, marble, ancient looking structure. I spotted Beth and Makar making their way towards it while being pursued by moblins.


	15. Entrance

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry for taking so long with my post, but as it is, life wants to keep me away from my writing. Just a warning: It will probably be just as long for the next chapter, but let me just reassure you guys; I'm still here, and I'm still writing.**

**Chapter 16: "Entrance"**

I watched from my position on the large rock a rather great distance away from Beth and Makar. I watched as they were chased by a large number of furious moblins. I was quite fearful as to what the moblins would do to Beth and Makar, and I didn't want to find out. Taking a long jump from the rock, I dashed off to the large, temple-like structure to pursue my friends. I was curious as to why there was a lone structure out on this mountain; although, I could've figured it out had I not been concerned about Beth and Makar.

I had covered about half the distance from my original location when I lost sight of Beth, Makar, and the trailing moblins. They had entered the temple and I had no idea where inside they would head. I began to have trouble continuing on after them due to the fatigue caused by my previous battle with the moblins, but I pushed forward. I reached the base of the temple and was taken by it's beauty, but I was quickly slipped out it and took off inside.

The first thing to catch my eyes was a long blue-tiled hallway splitting to meet three different doors. I didn't see anyone. I eventually settled on going through the door on the left first. I approached the door and lifted from the bottom, throwing it up. I entered through the doorway and had only taken a few steps before I suddenly caught myself and prevented me,from plummeting into a pitch black abyss. I looked up to see that most of the bridge was blown off and it left a impassible gap. I had no choice but to turn around and enter through one of the other doors.

I proceeded back to the main hallway and tried the door on the right side, but I was unfortunately met with the same results. I was left with only the middle door. I went to lift the door up just like the other two, but found out it was sealed shut. My first notion was to look for something to unlock it, but found nothing but a single, clay pot. Having no other option, I lifted up the pot to reveal a circular, stone pad on the floor. I took a moment before I set my foot on the pad with sunk into the floor and unsealed the door. I entered in.

I proceeded through the door to find that this bridge was intact, but blocked by not so friendly looking, squid-like creatures. They slithered around and began to take notice to me. They began to move toward me, but almost by instinct, I drew my sword and sliced the creatures dead. The bodies of the creatures lay there, unmoving, so I continued forward into the next room.

The next room was expansively large. I came into the room and looked around. I noticed that this room was probably the main hub of the temple due to the fact that when I looked over the rails, I saw other floors. I looked down and saw Beth resting alone,

"Beth! Are you alright?" I called,

She looked up at me,

"Link! Glad to see you. I'm alright, but I'm not so sure about Makar,"

I was surprised,

"Why?"

I watched as she let out a heavy sigh,

"Well, Makar believed that because you weren't around, he'd have to find a way out of here, and he went off into the temple doing just that, but I don't know where he is now,"

I responded with a sigh,

"Alright, just hang tight and wait for me,"

She looked both ways then looked back up at me,

"I don't think I'll be going anywhere,"

I took off, leaving Beth by herself, which I felt bad for doing, but had no other choice. The floor I was on was fairly empty, at least to the fact that there was nothing trying to kill me, just a few clay pots laying around. I proceeded left into a room that looked like a main staircase. I approached the landing to be greeted by walking skeletons!

I froze in my step and watched them. I don't know what is was though, but they didn't seem to take notice to me. I did notice they moved incredibly fast. I didn't waste any more time in my frozen position and slowly moved past them down the staircase. At the bottom, I came to a split in the hallway, it took me a moment to decide, but what ultimately had me make my choice was that one of the paths were blocked by massive, stone blocks. So, with my only other option, I began to take off, but for some strange reason, I stopped. I felt as if some voice was calling me, so I looked around and noticed a strange tile on the wall. After further observation,

I saw it had strange texts written on it. I suddenly found myself focused only on the tile when I heard the voice of the Prophet,

"Link, do you hear me?"

I spoke without thought,

"Yes,"

"Good," the voice came, "Listen to me, these are special tiles which I can use to contact you while your in the temple. I'll try and help you in any way you can,"

"Okay,"

"Now listen, Makar is in deep trouble. You've got to hurry if you want to save him,"

"How do you know he's in danger?" I asked,

"That's not important, just get going," He responded sharply.

I immediately took off into the lower of levels of the temple with my only priority finding Makar and get him and Beth out. I should've guessed it wasn't going to be easy.


	16. Tension

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry for the long wait for new materials, but school has let out for me, so expect to see tons more stuff coming out from me. Be sure to check out my other works, favorite, follow and review! Thanks!**

**Chapter 17: "Tension"**

I descended a flight of stairs which brought me to a pitch black hallway, but what was strange was that there was a soft hue of red that slowly seemed to glow brighter as I waited. I immediately made the conclusion that whatever it was, I didn't want to find out. I fumbled around for my trusty lantern and made my way down the hall opposite the red hue.

I reached three pots. I lifted all three to discover that a floor button like the one I saw earlier was hiding under one of the pots. I stepped on it. I jumped at the sound of an open door which somehow happened to be right next to me. I proceeded into a dark side room and began exploring. Finding a large number of pots, I lifted them all and again found a floor button. Pressing this one down, I jumped to the sound of a crash. I shined my lantern to the source of the crash to discover that a chest had fallen from the ground. It was a golden chest. My first action was to go and open the chest, which I found was unlocked. I opened it up and reached outside and to my surprise, I had found a bow.

I began to test it out by pulling on the bow string a couple of times, but I was interrupted by the sound of what seemed to millions of legs covering the ground. I held my lantern up to reveal a massive swarm of black spiders crawling toward me. I instantly began to swing both my lantern and my sword, scaring them and killing them. It wasn't too long before the entire room was covered, so

I jumped over them and ran through the door. I took off back to the hallway I was in before, but this time, the red hue had disappeared. I moved against the back wall to the other side of the hallway which fed into another doorway. Upon entering, I was met by a setup similar to the last room. I carefully made my way to the middle where another golden chest lay, and I hesitantly opened the chest expecting more spiders to fly out at me, but nothing happened. I reached into the chest to reveal the key to boss room inside.

This key was just what I needed to get Beth and I out of here. I assumed that Makar would have gone after the boss ahead of me, but I wasn't about to contemplate how he got in without the key.

I took off back to the main room above where Beth was resting on the bridge, but when I looked, she wasn't there. I could only guess she moved further into the temple. It took me longer then I had hoped, but after a good period of searching, I found the staircase that lead down to the floor I needed to go to. I zipped down the staircase and quickly did a sweep of that floor, but found nothing too much of interest. I reached where Beth was originally, but disappointingly, I didn't find anything of hers. I decided that I would check the side rooms for Beth. The only result that came about my running around was I found large amount of rupees.

With no sign of Beth or Makar on this floor. I proceeded a level below, but was met with the same scene as the previous level, it was almost identical in setup. Neither Beth or Makar were on this floor, so I headed down the staircase to final underground level, where I knew that the door to boss room would be located. As I descended the staircase to the floor, the span of the floor came into view. The first sight that caught my eye was a refreshing one: Beth and Makar standing in front of the boss door with a puzzled expression on their faces. I reached the end of the staircase and called out to them,

"Beth, Makar! You guys are okay!"

They both turned around, and in unison, replied,

"Link!"

I sprinted over to them and we all joined together in a group hug,

"How'd you guys escape the moblins? I watched them trail you inside,"

Makar looked down and kicked at the floor,

"Well, you see Link, it's actually a long story,"

Beth seemed curious as to what the story was, no matter how long,

"What's the matter, Makar. I can tell when your hiding something," She interrogated,

Makar backed away rather noticeably,

"Like I said, long story, no time to tell it right now," He evaded,

Beth was getting impatient,

"Makar, tell us what happened. I know for a fact that when we split up, the moblins chased after you,"

Makar let out a stressful sigh,

"Alright, fine. Let's just say I bribed the moblins to leave us alone,"

I wasn't convinced, and neither was Beth,

"You bribed them how?" I questioned,

I knew that we were pressuring him, but I was wondering if it was enough, or even too much. Beth continued to poke and prod at him until he finally cracked,

"Fine!" He cried,

There was a moment of silence,

"I bribed the moblins by giving them our dinner,"

When the words of dinners made it past Makar's mouth, I instantaneously realized that I was starving. It must have been at least two days since we had our last meal. This confession really set Beth off and put her into a rage. She went on and on how Makar was more responsible then this, and how she was extremely disappointed in him. I watched as she hammered Makar to the point of bawling. I finally had enough and spoke up,

"Beth, stop it!" I screamed,

She immediately stopped mid-sentence and dropped her arms. She hung her head in what I could only guess was shame. Makar scurried up against the wall, and slowed his breathing from a heaviness to a calm state. I knew that was the only way to end the situation, even though it was the harshest way. I tried to give both my friends a pep-talk,

"Look Beth, you can't blame Makar for his actions. It was likely the best way to be rid of those moblins,"

I turned to Makar,

"Makar, I know you meant well, but you could have found a more productive to get rid of those monsters,"

Makar nodded his head,

"Yes, I bet we're all hungry right now, so the faster we get out of here, the faster we can get some food,"

I felt that my little talk calmed both of them, so I gave them both a moment to recuperate. Beth went over and made up with Makar and apologized. As Beth walked away, Makar's eyes went ice cold, and his mouth began to utter an ancient language. Both Beth and I stared at him, but his gaze was set foward,

"Link?" Beth asked,

"Yes?" I responded,

"What is he saying?" She asked,

"I have no clue," I confirmed,

We watched in a mixture of both horror and awe at Makar's speech. I was unable to move any part of my body, and I assumed the same for Beth. It was a good minute before he stopped short of his speech and his eyes returned to normal. His body was in a lifeless state and began to totter back and fall. I, without thought, slid across the cold stone floor and just made it in time to cushion his fall, saving him from cracking his head open on the floor.

I heard crying from behind me, and strained my neck to look and see Beth muddled in tears,

"What... Happened to him?" She croaked,

"I honestly have no idea. Has he ever done this before?"

"No, never,"

"This is getting extremely dangerous, we'd better get out of this temple and get back to the prophet,"

I crawled out from beneath Makar and made way over to Beth to comfort her, which I saw, helped her tremendously. I then went and pick up Makar and laid him over my shoulder. I gave Beth the boss key and had her open up the gate. She headed inside before me. The only sound I heard was a screech. I moved as fast I could with Makar and found that Beth had fainted in front of a monster that sent me into an adrenaline shock.


	17. Curse

**Author's Note:**

**I believe I'm coming to a plot twist I'm going to regret, but I'm going to follow through with it anyways, stay tuned to see what I mean. Review, favorite, follow, and enjoy! see you later!**

**Chapter 18: "Curse"**

The size of the monster, nay, the thing before was unrealistic. It was an animated stone statue, and it was towering right in front of me. I laid Makar down on the floor and leaped into the bowels of the boss chamber. I huddled to the back wall and stared in a justified horror as the statue made the earth quake with every jump.

It eventually froze in place and started to shake violently. I had no idea how to react, so I just ducked and drove my head in safety. I peeked out from my hiding to witness the statue split into eight smaller versions of itself and begin to hop in a pattern that trailed each statue.

I flung myself forward into the middle of the crowd and charged up my sword, hoping to get a result similar to the one the moblins received. I took my stance, and while trying to block out the slow advance of the statues towards me, I charged up my attack and released it. It sent out a ring of energy that pushed the statues back, also sending to slamming into the wall. It left one of them with a chunk of his head missing.

The statues regained their pattern and slowly began to creep towards me, so I attempted another charge, but I was too weak to cook up a ring like

I had just done. The statues finally ganged up on me and crushed, leaving me extremely weak, but not defeated. I limped my way out of the circle and armed my bow. I aimed and fired an arrow that flew right into one of them and split a chunk off of it.

I soon realized that these statues were rather weak for being made out of stone. The statues attempted another advance on me, but I let loose a good number of arrows which knocked at least two back far enough to let me slip past the ring of statues and avoid being crushed again. I aimed specifically for one, shooting as many arrows at it as I could. It eventually crumbled altogether and became a pile of dust.

I repeated using my bow until I had crumbled two more statues, but I ran out of arrows and had to resort to something more creative. The first thing that came mind was my bombs. I reached into my pack and threw one at them, exploding it into bits, ultimately resulting in a pile of dust. I used bomb on the last statues until only one remained. The demeanor of this statue changed. Its stone turned blood red and its speed increased. I could only guess that its power had too. I threw a bomb at it, but It had no effect. I had no other option but to charge up another energy blast.

I took stance as it charged at me. I breathed in, drawing power, and right before it smacked into me, I released that charge and it cut the statue in half, right in front of me. I watched as the statue slowly crumbled before me. I dropped my sword and fell to the ground. I was too weak to stay conscious, and I passed out.

My mind wandered to different things, and I had dreams I couldn't control; nightmares. I saw a hellish, dark world before me, and I watched helplessly as strange creatures danced around me, then I woke up. The temple ceiling taking my vision. I sat up and saw Beth tending to Makar, who was laying next to me. She looked up at me,

"Ah! Link, you're alright!"

"Yeah," was all I could get out,

"Makar doesn't seem to be in any better condition then you are. I think he has a fever,"

"Yeah, we need to get back to the Prophet,"

I struggled to stand up, but it wasn't until Beth helped me did I finally manage to get up. I looked over the room, and saw that the piles of dust were still littered across the floor, but I saw a small chest in the middle of the room, which wasn't there when I fainted. I slowly limped over to it, and kicked it open. I knelt down and reached outside. I pulled out a green pendant, similar to the one Zelda had given me.

Zelda, It's been days since I left her there, yet I only knew her a short time and I think about her. I began to pray she was okay. I walked back over to Beth to show her the pendant,

"We've got what we came for,"

She smiled,

"Yeah! Now we can leave this accursed place,"

I picked up Makar and put him over my shoulder. Beth led the way and we were met with the beautiful warmth of the sun. We wrapped back around the temple to the entrance where we knew where we were at. We retraced our steps back to the home of the Prophet, being extremely careful of the moblins. I looked at Beth, who only stared back. I reached my hand out and knocked on the door. It was immediately opened,

"You've returned! Bring Makar in," he commanded.

I complied without question and followed his instruction. Beth did not object either. We eventually left Makar alone with the Prophet. Beth and I sat in complete silence in the other room, just waiting. I began to wonder how the Prophet knew that Makar was in such a bad state, but refrained from asking any questions. It was a good wait before the Prophet came back from tending to Makar. He sat down in his chair and only stared off into the distance,

"What's the matter with him?" Beth asked,

"I can't say, but it seems he's been cursed,"

"Cursed how?" I asked,

"I'm not sure of that either, but whatever it is, it's dangerous for Makar to be housing,"

"How did you know he was in danger," I asked,

"I've been following your presence since you've left, and when you entered the temple, I felt a dark power come out from there,"

He broke his gaze and looked at me,

"What did he do?" He asked,

"Huh?" I was confused,

"Makar, what did he do?"

"Oh, well, right before we went into the boss room, he got a icy glaze in his eyes, then he began to mutter words I've never heard before,"

"Strange. What happened before that? Something must have set set him off,"

Beth coughed from crying,

"I yelled... At him for wasting our food,"

The Prophet looked stern,

"Whatever you said to him, you really hurt him,"

"I knew this was all my fault!" She cried,

I walked over to her and comforted her,

"Look Beth, It's not all your fault, it's mine too,"

"How?" She whimpered,

"I should have never asked what he did to our food supply, I led you up to him, which was something I should have never done,"

She hugged me and cried herself to sleep. It was late when we arrived, and even later when the Prophet returned from dealing with Makar. I covered Beth up with my cloak and went over to the Prophet,

"Do you think he'll live?" I asked,

"Hard to say,"

"Is this my fault, my bringing them with me?"

"Did they come willingly?" He asked,

"Yes,"

"Then no,"

"Was there anything I could've done to prevent this?"

The Prophet looked squarely at me,

"Link, there are greater powers out there that even I cannot combat, you are but a mere boy caught up in events that you should've never been involved, but fate has you here, right here, right now,"

He turned his gaze out the window,

"Your lucky to have friends as devoted and loyal as Beth and Makar, but even they have limits, and I fear for the worst,"

I felt a chill run up my bones,

"What do you mean?"

He grimaced,

"Nothing, you should rest like Beth is, you've succeeded in getting the first pendant, but your journey is far from over,"

I nodded, and went over next to Beth and laid on my back staring at the roof watching as the flames danced about, eventually, I fell to sleep, fearful of what the future held.


	18. Hatred

**Author's Note:**

**Good Lord, you have no idea how bad I did not want to write this, read and see. As always, favorite, follow, review, and enjoy! See you!**

**Chapter 19: "Hatred"**

I had another dream, similar to the one had in the temple. I dreamt that I was standing on top of a cliff overlooking the whole of Hyrule, but it wasn't the lush, green kingdom I knew. It was grey, and fire plagued the field. I stared off into the clouded distance and saw Hyrule Castle in ruin. I saw a fireball fly straight for me, then black.

I flew up right out of my bed in an explosion of heavy breathing. I finally calmed myself down and looked about me. The Prophet was sitting in his chair, smoking off of a pipe. Without even looking, he spoke to me,

"I've been watching you as you've slept. Those must have been some terrible nightmares,"

I gulped,

"They were,"

He looked over at me,

"What did you see?"

I grimaced,

"I saw..."

I waited in silence,

"I saw Hyrule in ruin, fire burning the land, and death everywhere. Monsters roamed the land,"

He breathed out heavily,

"Such is the result if the Wizard gets a hold on the Golden Power,"

I closed my eyes, trying to avoid thinking of such things. I turned and looked down at the floor. Beth was laying there, fast asleep. I looked back up at the Prophet,

"How Makar doing?" I asked,

"He's alive, but barely,"

"Do you think he'll recover,"

"If he does, it will be a long time,"

I sighed,

"I still feel responsible,"

"There's nothing that could've been done about. It could've been you,"

I flared,

"It should've been me!"

"Don't you understand Link? Your the only one who can save us, save Hyrule!"

I started to cry,

"Why me though? All this has done is ruined my life! My Uncle is dead, my house has burned down, and there are people out there who want me dead! Why me?"

There was silence,

"I try, I do, but things always go wrong for me,"

I was bawling. I hadn't noticed that a hand was on my shoulder,

"You've people beside you Link, even if I or Makar couldn't do much," Beth told me,

I tried to regain my composure,

"Thanks Beth,"

I felt so much better that Beth was by my side. Beth, the Prophet and I sat and had a meal. I was sitting sideways talking to the Prophet who had his back to the door, and Beth was sitting, facing the door. I finished one sentence before I noticed the look of surprise on her face. The Prophet and I both turned around to see Makar, looking deathly pale at the door. Beth ran over to him and supported him. The Prophet stood up and also assisted him. The whole time he was in that room, he never spoke, just nodded. The one thing that plagued me was that he stared at me the whole time, but I couldn't tell if he was mad at me, or what his mood was. He just stared.

Beth set him down on the floor,

"Are you hungry,"

Makar nodded, so Beth went off to the Prophet's kitchen to get some of the food we had eaten a while ago. While she was gone, the Prophet did various exercises with Makar to be sure he wasn't injured in any way. He was fine.

Beth came back with a plate full of food and gave it to Makar. He proceeded to devour it in only a matter of seconds, the whole time he kept his eyes set on me and me alone. After he had finished eating, Beth took his plate back to the kitchen and came back,

"How does a bath sound, Makar?"

He nodded, and they left the room. It was only the Prophet and I,

"That wasn't good," I spoke up,

"I know,"

"That staring wasn't good either. I couldn't tell what he was thinking of me,"

"I know. I fear for the worst,"

He took a puff off his pipe,

"Link, we need to talk about something important: Your next destination,"

I shot up,

"My next location?! Do you really think that this is the proper time for that?"

He became frustrated,

"Listen to me Link, I fear for the worst, something that I believe you won't be able to handle. If we get this out of the way, it'll save you and everyone in this house a lot of trouble,"

I shut up. I knew I had no right to speak up against him like I did,

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just..."

"Yes, I know,"

We spent the next hour or so talking about different scenarios that could and how I should deal with them, but we what we did get certain was that I would next be headed for the Desert of Mystery for the second pendant.

We were in the middle of one of our conversations when we were interrupted,

"I'm not going,"

The Prophet and I both stood up and turned,

"Makar, are you sure about this?" the Prophet asked,

"Yes, I'm not going,"

This time Beth heard it, but wasn't sure if it was true or not, she came into the room,

"What was that? Did Makar speak?"

Makar looked right deathly at Beth and spoke,

"I'm not going,"

Beth dropped what she was holding,

"What?"

"You heard me,"

"Makar, no!"

"I'm sure of it,"

I was stunned, I couldn't speak, couldn't move, I wasn't sure if I breathing any more,

"I've never been so afraid in my life before. I don't want to go through it again,"

Beth started to cry, I was crying, and the Prophet let out a heavy sigh,

"Looks like my fears were reality,"

"You can go by yourself Link. I want nothing to do with you any more,"

I felt like I was stabbed through the heart with a sword. Makar hated me, and there was nothing I could to fix it. He looked at Beth,

"Get your things, we're going back to Father,"

She whimpered,

"Don't do this Makar! Please! What happened to you?"

"I am doing this Beth, and nothing is wrong with me, I've only realized that Link is dangerous, and you should not be around him,"

Beth started to yell,

"He isn't!"

Makar committed an action none of would have ever dared to think he would do, he slapped Beth right across the face. She fell down to the ground. I was furious, confused, and sad,

"Makar! How could you?!"

The Prophet, in one swoop, picked up Makar and pushed him against the wall,

"That was uncalled for, young man. You can have your objections against Link, you can assume control, but you never slap a lady like you just did, especially when she's your sister!"

Makar dropped. I watched, and felt heat all around me, I felt light headed and weak. I heard "...Link," and I passed out.


	19. Descent

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone, if at any point you catch a misspelling or some type of grammatical error, send me PM telling what chapter and what the mistake is. I don't have a beta reader, so ?i have to proofread it myself, and you know what happens when the Author tries to correct his own work. As always, review, favorite, follow and enjoy!**

**Chapter 20: "Decent"**

I awoke the next morning with a massive headache, and an even more painful bright light bothering my eyes. I gathered enough strength to open my eyes to see that the painful light was coming from the window. I realized I had been moved from where I fell the night before, but as a benefit, I was in a comfy bed. I slowly sat up on the side of the bed and looked outside. The sun was already a great deal up the sky. It had to be late in the morning.

I forced myself to stand up, but I got extremely light headed and sat back down. I was going have to be very careful if I didn't want to hurt myself any more then I already was. I attempted a second time to stand up, but I got a similar result, only lessened effect. The third time was enough for me to properly stand up and not have to rest again. I held my hand against my head, trying to combat the headache.

I felt extremely calm for some odd reason, but under the circumstances, it was strange. I limped my way from the room I was in to the main living room. There wasn't a noise that I could hear. It was just dead silence. I sleepily walked to the doorway of the living room and saw the Prophet sitting in his chair reading. I supposed he didn't notice me. I had just barely opened my mouth when he beat me to it,

"They've left already,"

I lowered my head. He continued,

"Beth begged for Makar to wait for you to wake up so she could say goodbye, but he would have none of it. She told me to pass on the message,"

I only stared between my feet. My head raced with thoughts trying to explain why Makar suddenly became against me, but I couldn't come up with any,

"Your stuff is already set by the door. You can leave when you feel ready, but I suggest sooner the better,"

I limped over in front of the Prophet and sat on one the of many cushions he had littered across the floor,

"I feel bad," I croaked,

He stared up at me,

"In many ways, I can tell. They meant a lot to you, didn't they?"

I only nodded. He sighed,

"You can't rely on everyone who comes past you Link, other people have their breaking points too. Already apparent is that Makar must've reached his,"

I sat in silence. The Prophet got up and headed for the kitchen. When he returned, he was carrying a plate of food. He set down in front of me,

"Eat. You'll need the energy,"

I picked up the plate and ate away. The food helped me incredibly, it even cleared my headache. After I had finished, I set the empty plate on the floor and got up. The Prophet followed me. I went the door and started grabbing my things to prepare to leave,

"Link,"

I stopped and turned to him,

"I want to give this to you. It's a special tome which you can use to contact me. I don't know how much I can help you, if the need arise, but I will give any advice you may need,"

I bowed my head,

"Thank you,"

The Prophet laid his hand on my shoulder,

"I won't dwell on what happened too much Link. I may be wrong, but I have a feeling you'll see them again,"

He winked. I responded with a smile and lifted my pack onto my shoulder,

"If you head east from here, there is a trail that follows right down the mountain. That's the same trail I directed Beth and Makar to follow,"

I nodded, and opened the door. Looking out, I was blinded by the noon-high sun. I lost valuable time sleeping in, but I needed it. I turned to the Prophet one last time,

"Thank you again,"

I turned and headed out the door.

I knew it was gonna be a hard walk for me, because my legs were terribly sore, but the hospitality the Prophet gave me helped my through. Not much happened while I was walking down the mountain. I did find the path the Prophet mentioned, and prayed to the Goddess that I would be able to catch up to Beth and Makar, but the thought passed through me that I didn't want in fear of what Makar might do to me, or even Beth.

My mind wandered as I walked to the events of last night. I wanted to believe that it was just a bad dream, but it was proven to be reality. Most of all, I missed Beth. She was so kind, and helpful to both me and Makar, especially having to keep the loss of her mother on her mind. Makar was a okay guy too. I didn't know how to feel about his decision, but if he believed that was the best choice, then I only wished him the best.

I've been abandoned twice now, and my trust in the world was wavering; first by my Uncle, then by Makar. I knew one thing was certain; Zelda was still waiting for me at the Sanctuary. I still tried to understand why I thought about her, but there was just something that attracted my attention to her. I couldn't figure it out.

I tripped on a rock and almost found myself tumbling down the base of the mountain, but I was able to catch myself. I regained my balance and looked up. I was surprisingly excited. Although, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but it boosted my spirits. I had found a campsite; most likely the camp of Beth and Makar.

I approached the camp and began to scout around, but my searched yielded nothing. My excitement died and came back to me as disappointment, but I proceeded on anyways. I finally reached level ground which I could only guess was the base of the mountain. After more walking, I was greeted by the sweet sight of green grass. I was back out on the fields, but it was already late in the afternoon when I reached the bottom. The sun was about to set and I needed a place to stay.

I continued late into the evening, but my extra walking got me ahead of schedule, I was past my burnt house on closer to the Desert of Mystery, that was when I was greeted by the sight of a burning campfire.


	20. Companion

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, thanks for keeping up this far and I hope you enjoy this next chapter. This is mostly a filler chapter, but necessary none the less. As always, review, favorite, follow, and enjoy. See you later!

Chapter 21: "Companion"

The sight of that far-off flame set me off in a rush of excitement. I immediately took off towards the camp, hoping dearly that it was Beth and Makar. As I got into view of the camp, I didn't see either of them there, just one man sitting by himself.

My sprint had slowed down to just a walk, and I came up to the camp, I approached the man,

"Excuse me, sir?" I asked,

He looked up at me and gave me an extremely interesting look. I supposed he didn't plan to meet anyone tonight. After he gave me the look, he pointed to the sign next to him. I walked around him and knelt down in front of it to read it.

\- _I am just a simple guy. Go away, leave me alone, don't talk to me, and do not remove this sign._ -

This had me curious. I found it strange that a man would go to so much trouble for no to talk to him, but his sign didn't turn me away. I stood back up and looked at him. He gave me the same interesting look as before. Eventually, I tried speaking with him again,

"Sir, would you mind if I stayed the night with you?"

He only shook his head and pointed back at the sign. I knew he was trying to tell me to leave, but it didn't work. I was getting annoyed by his attitude towards me. I spoke to him again,

"Sir, why are you being so silent?"

He looked at him with an even weirder look. He was looking at me like I was mad. He shook his head again and pointed at the sign. I folded my arms and the man scoffed at me. This set me over the edge. I pulled the sign right out of the ground and threw it; landing and splitting into two. The man stared at me with a look of horror, like I had committed murder, then he stood up and gave me a shock,

"Sheesh man! Can't you read?"

He took a minute to breath,

"Either you're extremely persistent or extremely stupid,"

I was surprised. I honestly didn't expect him to react like that,

"Well, uh.. Sir,"

He put his hands on his hips,

"Yep, your stupid!"

This set me off,

"Stupid! I'm not the guy who refused to speak and forced people to read a sign telling them to shove off!"

The man took a moment,

"Well... I have my reasons! Want do you want anyways?"

I calmed down,

"Well, for one thing: what are you doing out here?"

"That's my business,"

I sighed,

"Fine, secondly, I was wondering if could camp with you for tonight,"

He threw his arms into the air at the sound of my request,

"I guess there's no way I getting rid of you now, is there?"

I was offended,

"I can leave if you really want me too,"

He sighed,

"No, you can stay, I could use some company,"

I sat down next to the fire, and he did the same. We sat in silence for a good while before I attempted to stir up some conversation,

"I'm Link, by the way,"

He didn't respond until after a while,

"My name is Habib,"

I looked up,

"Well, nice to meet you Habib"

He only mumbled,

"Yeah, well goodnight."

He mumbled again.

I laid down and fell off into sleep.

The next morning, I awoke to a completely cleared camp. It was almost there had been no camp or no strange guy. I achingly arose from my sleeping pad and had a lonely breakfast. There was a soft, cool breeze blowing and it was quiet say for a few birds singing, but there was no one to talk to.

I packed up and headed off closer towards the desert. As I made my way, I noticed that the terrain began to grow rocky and rough. I was wondering if I was going the wrong way, but kept trekking anyways.

The sky progressively changed from a clear, blue sky to a cloudy, grey one. I was fearing if it would rain. I reached what I concluded was the entrance to the desert, and something that caught my eye was a man and a sign.

I was surprised to find that same man just sitting in the same fashion as he was last night. As I approached Habib, he suddenly gave off an equally surprised look at the

sight of me. I guess he was hoping to never see me again, but sadly for him, he wasn't rewarded with that luxury. I made my way up to him as he contemplated picking up his sign and running for it, but I guess he talked himself out of it,

"By the Goddess, your persistent aren't you,"

I let out a little chuckle,

"I try to be,"

"Well, what do you want now,"

He took a minute staring at me, then turned toward the desert,

"You're not planning to go in that desert are you?"

"Why yes, I am. Is it dangerous?"

He gave me a look,

"There are worms in there, man!"

"Worms?"

"Yes! Deadly worms; killer worms."

"I'm still going in there, y'know,"

He gave me a look of horror,

"Well... Let me just say that it was nice knowing you,"

I raised an eyebrow,

"Alright? See you too,"

I started to walk away from him into the desert when I heard a shout and him dashing towards me,

"Alright, fine. I'll come with you!"

I turned around and looked at him strange,

"I thought you said there were killer worms in there,"

He bowed his head,

"Well, yeah, but it's better then sitting out here by myself. I mean, I can't let you go in there and get yourself killed?"

I was surprised,

"Alright then, come on,"

It comforted me a great deal to have a new companion with me. It was probably the best thing to have as I got over Beth and Makar, but as always, I would regret it.


	21. Danger

**Author's Note:**

**So I know its been forever since I've posted, but I'm still writing. It's just taking me a bit. As always, review, favorite, follow, and enjoy.**

**Chapter 22: "Danger"**

Habib wasn't kidding when he said that there were killer worms out her in the desert. As we made our way tripping left and right over the dunes of sand, we pushed forward to the farthest cliffside, but it was not easy task. Aside from the landscape being covered in dunes and the killer worms hunting us down, the heat was nearly killing us.

Of course, when it came to the worms, I had to deal with them, but what Habib was actually both shocking and hilarious; whenever he saw a worm coming at us, he'd jump up and start chunking clumps of sand at it. Although, this became a problem at times due to the fact that the sand would become a cloud and linger near the ground, which in turn would blind my vision.

We made it a good ways into the desert before Habib begged for us to stop and have a water break; I happily obliged. I took a single drink of water then handed it to Habib, who foolishly started gulping it down like he was dying. I quickly yelled at him,

"Don't do that! Stop drinking!"

He stopped and wiped his mouth, followed by heavy breathing,

"What?"

"You do realize that is all the water we have to last us this trip,"

He looked at the canteen then handed it to me,

"Sorry. If you wanted another drink, you could've just asked,"

I slapped my forehead,

"No! I don't want another drink! You've probably already wasted it all!"

He started to get annoyed,

"Listen, just calm down, I brought my own water canteen,"

This loosened my up considerably,

"Alright, fine. Just drink out of yours from now on,"

He nodded.

We proceeded further across the desert, climbing over dunes and fending off worms. The sun began to set and fall behind the mountains, bringing cooler air to the desert, but a unwanted factor to nightfall was that more creatures began to emerge. Along with the worms, there were scorpions, snakes, bugs, and the fabled sand giants.

I had heard legends of these sand giants. They said that the sand giant would come at you from where you'd least and attempt to pull you underground and suffocate you to death, although, I didn't even dare to think about what happened after that.

It was later into the night by the time we finally managed to cross the desert and reach the cliffside we were aiming for, but there was still a problem; there was no clear way as to getting up the cliff.

The Prophet made it clear that the temple would not be located on the sand, but on solid ground, which left the most reasonable place to the cliffside. Habib only stared at me as I inspected the cliff for a way up, but he soon lost interest and laid down on the sand; I didn't notice this.

I successfully found a manageable climbing spot and tried to get up from there. Luckily, I was able to get up onto the cliff. As I turned around to tell Habib to follow me up, I was met with a dilemma: Habib was fast asleep and there was a shaking pile of sand moving towards him. I judged it had to be a sand giant and that Habib was in a life or death situation. I called out to him,

"Habib! Wake up!"

He stirred, but didn't wake up. The giant was closing in,

"HABIB! WAKE UP!"

He jumped up at the sound of my screaming, but fell back down. I heard him let out a deafening yelp and watched as he ran as fast as his feet could carry him towards me. It was a close call, but I think he was running faster then the giant following. When he reached the cliffside, he started jumping towards me and yelling.

"Get me up! Get me up!"

I stretched my arm out as far as I could in order to reach Habib, but I wasn't able to reach him. He continued to jump higher and higher before I was finally able to grab his fingers; It was all for naught.

The giant, by this time, had finally reached Habib and was pulling him under the sand. My adrenaline was pumping at this point and I focused all my strength on combating the pull of the giant. It got harder and harder to keep hold on him, and the screams that blasted into my ear from Habib made it much worse.

I strained to hold on, but it was worthless. The giant's strength overcame my own and ended with Habib letting out one last scream before being pulled under the sand. He was gone.

I got back up the cliff and laid down. I failed in protecting him, and know he is dead. It's was my fault. I laid and stared out at the stars, crying. I felt as if I couldn't go on, at least, not after what happened.

I heard a soft rumble, but ignored it. It gradually became louder as time past, until the point where it began to shake the earth. I sat up, and stopped crying. The rumbling was caused by something in the sand. Eventually the rumble reached its climax and a figure shot right out of the sand and landed back down on top of a dune.

I immediately jumped down from the cliff and ran after the figure, and to my relief, it was Habib; however, he was unconscious. I picked him and laid him over my shoulder and went back to the cliff. With a great deal of effort involved, I boosted him up onto the cliff and got up myself. I went and knelt down and set my head on his chest; his hear was beating. I said a prayer of thanksgiving to the Goddess and started feeling his throat. I was glad to find out he didn't have any sand in his mouth, so I pulled out my canteen and started pouring water on his face.

He stirred and finally woke up coughing heavily. I was so happy,

"Habib! Your alive!"

He finally ceased coughing and looked at me funny, then held his head,

"What in the name of Hyrule happened?"

I raised an eyebrow,

"You don't remember?"

He shook his head. I sighed,

"A sand giant got a hold of you. I thought you were killed!"

He scratched his head,

"Well, I'm here,"

"Maybe the giant didn't like the taste of you?"

He laughed,

"Yeah, sure. I guess I just got lucky, but I'm deathly tired right now,"

I looked up, I guess we can call it a night,"


	22. Destination

Hero Alone

Chapter 23: "Destination"

The next morning was a drag for the both of us; not only had the coolness of night left us, it was replaced by a wave of heat, leaving us both dehydrated. Also, I'm pretty sure we both got sunburn from sleeping on those baking rocks, but we knew we had to carry on. Last night's fright left us beaten down, but not defeated.

It was rough to finally get up, pack and head for the temple, but we did it. Habib and I each shared a gulp of water, then carried on our way. We didn't rush our ascent up the cliffs, and I don't think we would've rushed it anyways, due to last night being the way it was.

The only resistance that met our decent was that of deserts snakes that lingered on the mountain. Although they tried to look intimidating, which at some times they were, they didn't bother to attack us at all. It wasn't until we reached a ways up the cliffs before we encountered any real danger: scorpions. Their blood-red shells and overly massive claws really set them off, not only that, the moment they saw us, they chased us down. The only way I was able to fend them off was flicking them off the side of the cliff. When they hit the bottom, they would leap back onto their feet and scurry into a crack in the cliff. I wasn't sure whether or not they came back for us.

We finally reached the top of the current cliff chain when we stopped for another rest. Habib put his hands on his knees and looked at me,

"How much longer do we have to keep climbing?"

I looked around and my eyes came to behold a massive platform,

"I don't think we'll have to do anymore climbing. Look,"

Habib followed my sight to the giant platform, and his eyes became wide open,

"Okay, I suppose we won't. Shall we head up?"

I nodded, then we made our way up a stone staircase and eventually reaching the platform. It was covered in green tile, and three distinct statues of birds were resting around the edge of the platform; one in particular was stationed right in front of a doorway that lead into the mountain. I walked to the middle of the platform and found a stone post with writing on it. I leaned in closer to look at the writing, but I wasn't able to make it out. It seemed to be some sort of ancient writing,

"I can't read this,"

Habib took a look and it,

"Eh, neither can I, but I have read writing like this from somewhere,"

"Well, how are he going to get inside?" I said, scratching my head.

"Let me see,"

Habib reached into his pack and pulled out a small, green book. After some page-turning, he compared the writing to his book.

"To open the way forward, make your wish here, and it will be granted," He said, closing his book.

"So we have to make a wish?" I asked,

"That's what it says."

I looked up into the sky, "I wish the way was open,"

Nothing happened, I looked at Habib, and he returned it. The ground suddenly began to shake and the statutes moved in a circular pattern eventually leaving the entrance free and open. We both looked at each other, surprised.

"Well, that was easy enough," he said, scratching his head.

We proceeded into the temple and entered in a large room with a floor completely covered in sand. There were tons of snakes in this room and many of them saw us right off and started attacking us. Luckily, they weren't too much of a problem. I was mostly worried about the other monsters that made their home here.

"Stay close," I said, as we trailed our way through the sand. We reached a doorway and went inside to discover that a strange tower-like creature of sorts was rotating around the room. I hid behind the a stone pillar extending from the roof, Habib only followed.

"What do you think it'll do?" Habib asked,

I shook my head followed by a shrug. I was pretty sure, whatever the thing was, that it wasn't friendly. I scanned the room, making sure that the statue thing didn't see me. I saw a doorway on the opposite side of us. I pointed to the other side,

"We've to get over there, making sure that the statue doesn't see us,"

"Doesn't seem that tough. Watch this,"

Habib stood up, and waiting for the right moment, he dashed across to the next pillar, luckily missing the sight of the statue. He charged a second time toward the opposite side of the room, but was seen by the statue. Its eye turned red and a beam of energy blasted at Habib, causing an explosion of sand to fly into the air. I waited for the sand to clear and called out for Habib,

"Habib, are you still alive?"

"Yes, I'm still alive!" He yelped.

"What's in the next room?" I asked,

"I haven't looked? Do you really want me to look? There might be monsters in there!"

"Fine, give me a minute to get over there," I replied.

I timed the rotation of the beam statue and when I had the chance, I took it and ran all the way to the other side of the room. I must have had luck on my side, for when I ran, I was in direct sight of the statue, but surprisingly, it didn't fire. I reached the other side and stopped short in front of Habib, who proceeded to look at me funny. He shook his head and proceeded inside the next room.

There wasn't much of interest inside the next room. There were; however, stone pillars lining the outside of the room, and on the far wall was a lever. I looked at Habib, who only returned the look, and I walked toward the lever and pulled it. Nothing happened, so I turned around and looked at Habib, who only gave me a shrug. I watched the lever reset and gave it a second pull. Still nothing. It reset, and this time gave all my strength I could muster and pulled it down. This time, I heard something click, but no immediate action. I turned and began to walk away, but I was stopped by the sound of something heavy falling. I immediately looked up to see the wooden bottom of chest falling toward me. As luck would have it, I was standing right under where it would drop. I was frozen, but Habib wasn't. He took no time in tackling me and shoving me out of the way. He got up off the ground brushed himself off.

"Do you have a death wish or something Link? You would've easily been turned into a flat pancake."

I remained on the ground,

"I'm not sure, I just kind of froze in place,"

Habib only shook his head,

"That is no excuse, be aware of things like that next time,"

"Look, I'm sorry,"

"Don't apologize to me, just don't make the same mistake. Now, what is inside this chest?"

He got up and approached the chest, first examining the lock, which to find out there wasn't one.

"Well, there's no lock," he said, scratching his head. I got up and walked over next to him.

"Yeah, I would've guessed so. I find these sort of chests wherever I go, or at least, most of the time,"

He gave me a curious look,

"You just walk into dangerous dungeons and find these sort of things?"

"Yes, I just told you that,"

Habib himself, took the liberty to open up the chest himself and reached inside of it. He emerged holding a pair of iron-clad gloves.

"This is an interesting find,"

I looked at him wide-eyed,

"You bet,"


	23. Clearing

A Hero Alone

Chapter 24: "Clearing"

"What can we use these gloves for?" Habib asked, slipping them on. They were actually quite light for being made of metal and leather.

"I'm sure we'll find a use for them." I assured him. "If there's anything I've learned while adventuring, it's that whatever you find in a dungeon will eventually come in handy soon or later."

"Well, now that we have these, what do we do now?" Habib asked, slipping them off and handing them over to me.

"I suppose we should find our way to the next part of the dungeon." I answered.

"You think that there is another part?" Habib asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm almost positive to be honest." I told him. "Did you not notice the entrance further up the cliffs when he came in?"

He shook his head.

"Well, if that is the entrance to the next part of this dungeon, we'll have to find our way up the cliffs, meaning, there is another doorway that leads up there." I hypothesized.

Habib didn't seem convinced with my theory, but he grudgingly agreed to follow my ideas, as he didn't seem to have a hypothesis of his own.

We left the treasure room and proceeded to make our way past the Beamos statue once again. Luckily, we didn't have too much of a problem going past the statue, all except that Habib managed to trip himself running in the open as he headed for the next pillar. The Beamos was able to notice this and it let out a red beam aimed near Habib, which concluded in a small explosion. The explosion scared him to death and he leapt up into the air and he landed behind the pillar. I couldn't help but laugh at his performance, as it was as graceful as one of my own attempts, so in retrospect, I was laughing at myself, but he took it as me laughing solely at him. He gave me a glare, then he got up and went out the room. I followed him.

When we had left the room that the Beamos was located in and entered back into the sand-filled hallway, we learned that the journey forward from now on was going to get increasingly difficult. This was reinforced by the fact that the less intimidating sand creatures that littered the hallways as we came in had been replaced with much more frightening monsters. They were very thin, and long, and red. The most threatening part of these new monsters was their teeth. They were straight as they lined the creature's mouth, but they were slanted outwards and jagged. This left a very tense feeling of danger as you stared at them. The blazing red eyes did not help at all.

I was even scared to death by the sight of these creatures. They seemed to only look up at Habib and i and watch us. We dreaded our every move as they watched us, and I, myself, was not wishing for a fight against any of these beasts.

Habib bet his life behind my back as he literally clenched onto my back as we moved forward. Although I was able to walk okay with him clenched to me, it didn't help the sense of dread and fear at all. It made it worse.

As we proceeded down the hallways, the red creatures would prop their lengthy heads up and stare right into our souls, but they did not attack us. I found this incredibly strange, as most of the monsters I had encountered would be quick to try and kill me, so creatures who seemed all the more dangerous, yet not forefront that danger, did nothing more than stress my wits.

Despite the fact that we were being hounded by these creatures, we made our way, room to room, looking for the way outside to the upper cliffs. We found ourselves having a difficult time finding the said 'doorway'. We did stumble upon a room which contained three lanterns which unlit. I took a moment to examine them, but Habib was already searching around for a door.

"There's nothing here." Habib proclaimed, disappointed.

"Do you not see these lanterns?" I asked, a bit angered at the fact he wouldn't have a second thought as to the laterns.

"I do. What about them?" Habib asked, apparently not catching my drift.

"Maybe they're a part of a puzzle." I theorized.

He shook his head, not seeming convinced.

"Use your brain, Habib." I scolded him.

He gave me a strange look. "Well first of all, we don't have any fire to light these with, and second of all, we don't know the pattern."

"I have a lamp right here." I told him as I pulled it out and lit it.

"What about the pattern?" Habib asked. "You don't think you'll be able to get by without any idea, do you?"

I scratched my head. He was right, unless I had some sort of idea as to how to light these lanterns. it'd be pointless.

"Well, maybe there's a clue somewhere." I said, scratching my head.

Habib looked around as he put his hands on his hips. He shook his head.

"I don't see anything." Habib concluded.

"Maybe the clue is somewhere else in this dungeon." I hypothesized.

"It'd take us forever to go back through this dungeon just to find one clue." Habib argued.

I shook my head.

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" I asked, moreover using it to prove my point.

Habib scratched his head, and let out a sigh of defeat.

"No, it seems we don't." Habib said.

"Well then, shall we get started?" I asked him, already heading out the door.

He let out another sigh, almost an exact replica of his last one, then he began to follow.

The search for the next clue started off extremely slow. It took what felt like hours to double check each room. It became especially difficult to recheck the rooms that housed a Beamos statue.

We never really had too much trouble in face the face of danger, of course, except for the occasional Beamos blast or one of the red snake-like creatures staring us down in the hallway. I'm sure neither of us ever got used to those things.

We reached the last two rooms of the dungeon and were so tired we were ready to drop dead. Habib gave me a look of annoyance then sighed.

"Well, you pick one room, and I will take the other." Habib told me.

I nodded and picked to search the room in the corner. Habib left to check out the other room.

I entered into the room and found it was quite dark, so I lit my lantern and waved it around, lighting the room up. I didn't seem to notice anything at first, as the room itself seemed to be empty. As I swung the lantern, something on the back wall let off a metallic shine. I approached the source of the shine. After waiting for my eyes to adjust to light, I discovered that it was a metal plaque. I knelt down to read it. It took me a minute to read it.

_Twenty-Three is Number One._

I couldn't put my finger on it, but this seemed so familiar to me. I shook my head then took a moment to memorize the plaque.

Believing that I had the plaque memorized, I turned and left the room to find myself back inside the sandy hallway. I looked around but was unable to find any sign of Habib. I assumed he was still in the other room and decided to go after him.

I followed the path up to the doorway and peeked in. There was no sign of Habib. I entered further into the room to find he was nowhere to be found. I scratched my head, unable to figure out where he had gone, or where he was.

I looked around to see the room was supported by four black pillars and I began to inspect each one. I happened to notice that one of them had a button on it, so I gathered the courage up and pressed it. Of course, with all buttons I pressed, nothing happened. I stood waiting and listening for a sound, but nothing came.

I shook my head and pressed it again, yet still nothing happened. I began to walk out of the room to be stopped in my tracks by the sound of a deep rumble. I turned around and saw that the far wall and flipped open, like a secret door.

I was surprised by this, and readied my sword. I began to think that maybe Habib had found this, but I disregarded that thought as I shook my head. I slowly began to approach the newly opened doorway, watching carefully for anything. I took one step into the new room and looked around. There was nothing inside. After I had made it to the middle of the room, I waited in silence. It was quiet for what felt like an eternity, then the door shut tight with a loud boom.


	24. Arachnoid

**Author's Note: Well, here it is, chapter twenty-five of the long awaited A Hero Alone. I'm trying really hard to start writing again, and this isonly the beginning. Anyhow, enjoy this new chapter, and be sure to expect more, I know what I'm going to do with this as we progress, and I hope you all are excited! As always, keep reading!**

* * *

Chapter 25: "Arachnoid"

The last sound I heard was the disappearing echo of the large stone door closing, then silence once again. I felt so vulnerable standing in the middle of that empty room, but at the moment, I could do nothing about it. I stood there, not having a clue in the world of what to expect, but whatever was going to happen next, my gut warned me that it was not going to be good. For that moment, I forgot all about Habib and worried only about myself.

Time dragged on, as it usually did when I found myself in those sort of situations, as I learned from my previous escapades. I continued to circle the room with my eyes, looking up and down all the walls. I made sure I had a tight grip on both my sword and shield, as they felt like lifelines to me at that moment.

As I slowly assumed nothing was going to happen beside the door trapping me inside, all light inside that room was sucked out by an unknown force. I couldn't see anything in front of me. I brought my sword and shield in closer to me, thinking that it would protect me, but in hindsight, it was a foolish move, but it didn't make much of a difference. I strained my ears to listen for any sort of noise, but none could be heard. The only thing I noticed was the temperature in the room had changed. It had gone from being drafty and cold to almost burning hot. I could find no explanation why.

Then, without a sound, all the light in the room returned, and everything was just as it had been when the light had gone out. My mind was spinning trying to process what was going on, but it did little to help me. I returned to scanning the room, when I got the urge that I was being watched, and almost as if my instinct took over, I looked directly above me and was met with a horrific sight. From my knowledge and what I could see of the creature, it was huge arachnid, except it was covered in scales and had three eyes; one large eye and two much smaller eyes, and of course, it had fangs.

In an action that took the creature only mere seconds to execute, it leapt from its perch on the ceiling down to the floor where I was standing. I jumped away from that spot faster than I ever believed I could. I rolled off the floor and quickly sprang to my feet. The monster hissed at me. It was an extremely high-pitched hiss that it partially deafened me, and left me unsteady. It decided to lunge one of its slender, long legs at me in an attempt to stab me clean through, but I raised my shield just in time to block the leg, resulting in the sound of a large screech against my shield. The monster moved a few feet backwards so I began my attack. I raised my sword in the air, and placed my shield in front of me.

I slowly began to advance upon the monster, yet, after moving back, it stood its ground and prepared for a hit. I delivered. I pulled back my arm and slammed it into one of the smaller eyes, causing it to close shut, and the monster to pull back in agony. It was mad now, and stood on two legs, hoping to crush me. I slammed my sword down onto one of the legs that were coming down, causing it to split in half. The other leg came up from behind me and threw me into the air, causing me to collide with the wall behind me. I fell to the floor again, and got up, but much slower. The monster launched another attack, this time, trying to bite me with its fangs. I slashed my sword across its face, but the sword only slid across, doing no damage at all. I leapt back, only to find my back against the wall. I raised my shield in preparation for the worst.

The teeth of the monster came down, and instead of going straight into my shield, it clenched onto the top rim of my shield, ripping it away from me. It disposed of it, sending it flying across the room and eventually crashing against the opposing wall. I took off running along the edge of the room. I knew I wouldn't stand a chance without protection. The monster picked up on this and began to chase me down, it leaning in to take another bite at me. I rolled forward to try and get ahead of it. Fortunately, it worked, and I was able to grab hold of my shield once again.

I reached the corner of the room and quickly turned around. There was still some distance between the monster and I, so I launched my second attack. I rushed forward in the same stance I did the first time, and was able to lunge my sword into his other small eye, causing it to shut, just like the last one.

I could imagine that the monster was fed up with me, now with it only having one eye left, that being the largest one. I leapt back and began to plan how to get close enough to slash it. It would be much more difficult, as it seemed, its eyelid would block any attack I made. The monster was now moving much faster than it initially had been, and raised the difficulty even higher. The monster charged at me with it's mouth wide open and its fangs clearly visible. I was under the impression that it was going to swallow me whole. I vaulted off the floor and into the air, giving me some height as to attack the largest eye with.

I slashed my sword down across its largest eye when I reached the peak of my jump and quickly prepared my landing. I looked up at the monster, thinking I had finished the job, and I was almost convinced I had when the monster released a blood-curdling hiss. Yet, to my dismay, the monster was not finished.

The monster's eye was completely unscathed by my strike. It baffled me and I wondered how it could've survived a direct blow to its eye. Yet, I had little time to contemplate as the monster charged at me for another attack. I was getting tired out and I began to find it difficult to evade. I propelled off the wall in order to make a counterattack at the monster, going for another shot at the monster's eye. Although my attack connected, it did no damage. I was left out of ideas as to how to beat the monster. I thought I wasn't hitting hard enough, and that the monster's eye was being protected by some protective covering obviously not easily broken. Power is what I needed, and power was what I had. I quickly dashed around as I dug through my pack and equipping the special gloves that Habib and I found in the previous room.

I needed enough energy to launch into the air one last time, but I knew it would take a lot of work as I was already gasping for breath as it were. It was clear to see that the monster was also tiring as it had slowed down in speed, but I assumed it was in a much worse condition having lost two eyes and a leg. I stood up straight and drew in as much air as I could before expelling it. I was going to take this monster down.

I began running towards it, making sure to bend my legs as I prepared to launch into the air to deliver the finishing blow. I reeled back my arm in hopes to commit the final act of the battle. The monster seemed to know that it was through and gave one last high-pitched hiss before my glove connected with its eye, causing it to shut, and the monster to fall over and cease moving.

I fell to the floor in exhaustion, just sitting there. The monster began to dissipate before me. It wasn't long before I was left alone in the room and silence took over the entire area. Although I had defeated the monster, I had still yet to find Habib.

That's when a crate appeared in front of me.


	25. Fire

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I apologize for the indefinite hiatus, but it's actually quite difficult to get back into the flow of writing, but I was able to go get this chapter out. (I won't go into detail exactly how long it took me to complete this chapter as that in itself it terribly disappointing.) I'll try my hardest to get you guys more chapters, just bear with me, please. I'll work my hardest! If anyone has an idea that they might think could work at this point in the story, by all means, send it to me, but I do have a good idea where I want to go with this, so there is that as well. Well, anyhow, remember, don't stop believing and don't stop writing everyone!**

A Hero Alone - Chapter 26: Fire

The crate fell without warning, and I had not noticed it at all until long after it sailed through the air and landed with a loud noise, which caused me to leap away from it. It somehow caused quite a bit of sand to fly up in a cloud and hover around the crate. I could not get myself to approach the crate for some time after its landing, after all, the last thing I expected after a thrilling battle with a deadly spider was a crate, but here it was.

When I finally did gather enough courage to head up to the curious container, I did so by first walking around the crate. I was debating whether or not anything was actually in the crate. I could not tell from the outside, so I decided I had to look inside of it, something I was very hesitant about. Why I was so alerted by a single, wooden crate at the time was beyond me.

I took a deep breath before walking up to the crate and, using my sword as a lever, pried open one end of the crate. The lid snapped off and flew a bit away from the crate, and I knelt down by the newly made entrance to get a look inside, and what was inside astonished me greatly, and caused me to shoot up in action almost immediately after realizing what was inside the crate.

I hastened to pull him out of the confines of the crates, and a single look was all it took to confirm and even reinforce my worries. The monster had gotten to him long before I had even realized there was a monster. The arachnoid was able to entrap Habib within a silk cocoon and most likely try to hide him, proving that the arachnoid was somewhat conscious of its actions and not just acting out of pure nature.

The cocoon seemed to only seal Habib away, and most likely with a mix of non-lethal poison, the arachnoid found it little trouble to store him away as a meal if it were to get hungry in a later hour.

The silk seemed strong and sturdy, which was to be expected. I ran my hand across the silk once or twice and sighed. I knew getting Habib out was not going to be an easy task at all, and that was with the slim hope that he was alive in there, and that was what I assumed.

I attempted multiple times to try and cut the silk, but it was too strong, telling me that some other way of getting him out of there would be required, but I had to think of how. I knew that cutting him out was near impossible now, and I contemplated the next best idea, which was fire.

Fire could work, or it could only serve to backfire and kill any chance that Habib was alive in that cocoon, but stood the possibility that it is the only way to free Habib from it. After weighing my options, it didn't seem as if there any debate left. I needed to free Habib somehow, and fire seemed to be the best answer.

I rose from the floor and scanned the room to discover that there was actually no torches in the room, but how light was able to get into the room was through openings in the roof. This meant that I would have to make my way back into the previous rooms if I wanted to find any source of fire. I assumed that if I were to find a torch on one of the walls. That would be enough to burn through the cocoon.

I left that room to head back into the hallways, which seemed like the most likely place in the dungeon to contain any sources of fire, torches or otherwise. Although, returning was not easy. There were quite a few monsters who tried to prevent me from reaching the hallways. Yet, despite their annoyance, they didn't pose too much of a challenge. All it took was a few swings of my sword and they were dealt with fairly quick.

Once the monster obstructing my path were defeated, I began to scan the hallways for torches. It was then that I realized the lack of light that existed in the dungeon, I suppose I grew used to this level of lighting, but when thinking about it, it seemed fairly surprising to truly realize how dark it was in the dungeon.

I traveled quite a ways down the corridor before I finally came across a torch, but discovered that I was out of luck; the torch was sealed to the wall with a metal case around it.

It didn't take me much though to figure out how to get a hold of the torch. As it were, the weight of the single item in my pack that had made a lasting impression since I acquired it was the exact item I needed.

I struggled to get a hold on the iron gauntlets, which I believed would serve its purpose in being strong enough to break the case. I took my pack off and slipped gauntlets on. I gave myself a moment to adjust to their size, before gripping the metal case, getting ready to pull it off.

I pulled back with as much power as I could invest, before it eventually snapped off, causing the torch to fall to the sand. I threw the gloves off and scurried to save the torch. I was lucky.

I gave a sigh of relief before standing up and putting the gauntlets, one at a time, back into my pack, swinging it over my back. I headed off back toward the direct of the room where I had left Habib, and found him just as I had left him.

I carried the torch over to him before kneeling down to light the arachnoid silk on fire. I watched it with a ceaseless concentration. Once enough the silk was burned away that it made a hold, I put out the fire and began to pull it apart, ripping the silk further. I cleared enough away that I could pull Habib out of it if I needed to.

Just looking at him, it was so difficult to do, as the expression on his face was almost depressing. It seemed as if there was no life in him, and I was ready to say he was dead, so I only stared at him for a while, doing nothing, as I had no idea what to do in this situation. It was then that I noticed he was breathing.

Just seeing his chest move in rhythm of his breathing eased my heart in a way I couldn't describe. I hurried to clear away the rest of the silk that encased him before he finally regained consciousness and started to cough violently, sitting himself up to do so. After his fit he looked at me.

"L-link, what happened?" He asked in a frightful tone. He was shivering from being in that cold cocoon for that long.

"You're fine now, Habib." I replied. "I thought that thing killed you."

He looked at me as if I was crazy. "What thing?" He asked. I could tell he was sincere.

"You don't remember that arachnid?" I asked.

He shook his head. I couldn't blame him. It seemed that the whole event caused him a bit of amnesia. Yet, this alone caused me to sigh.

"Well, don't worry about it. It's dead, and we're done here, so let's go." I replied, unaware that I might have been a bit harsh on my awakened companion.

"R-right." He said shakily, trying to get up. It took him a few attempts, but he managed. He was still very weak from being trapped. He took a few steps, before giving me a nod.

I nodded back to him and headed out the room with him. I made quick work of monsters that stood in our way, because with a new annoyance of the dungeon, I wasn't scared of the creatures here, they were just burdens to me now, besides, I doubted whether I would actually see anything worse than that monster which took Habib. I wasn't particularly happy, so it didn't take us very long to make it out of the dungeon itself and head back out into the desert after climbing down the cliffs, which turned out to be a much quicker process instead of climbing up them. Neither of us said much on the return trip, but at least for me, I didn't want to say anything, and I could have probably assumed that Habib didn't want to say anything either, but I did want to know what he was thinking. I was afraid that he was afraid of me now, just like Makar was. I didn't want history to repeat itself, I would have never forgiven myself if it did, but I couldn't be sure. Only time could tell.


	26. Exhaustion

_Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Enjoy this filler chapter. I know I have been a complete let down when it has come to publishing for my stories but my efforts have been focused on finishing out my Sophomore year. It was been very stressful, but I really do plan to get back into the writing mood for it. Without a doubt, you will see a lot more come out this summer. Thank you all for spending time to read something as simple and childish as this story. Thanks, and I will see you again one of these days._

**A Hero Alone - Chapter 27: "Exhaustion"**

The journey down the mountain and through the desert was just as arduous as the trip beforehand, if not more. The lack of water we faced intensified the heat of the scorching sun above our heads, and our fatigued bodies made every step through the sand required impractical amounts of energy. Our mouths were dry, our clothes were soaked with our own sweat, and our senses were blurred. It was terrible.

The only thing we had to look up to was the fact that there were no beasts in the desert at that time, as they were most likely in their shelters waiting for night to fall so they could make their errands of finding food and water, something we had to deal with or we would no doubt die of dehydration or some other ailment.

We had arrived here in the early mornings and spent the entire day inside the complex, it was now late afternoon giving way to the early evening. We were slowly feeling the decrease of heat as the sun made its way toward the horizon. I was fairly certain that we would make it out of the desert before nightfall, but knowing my luck, anything could happen.

I occasionally looked over at Habib and I noticed that every time

I examined him, he seemed more bogged down. Obviously, we were both incredibly exhausted from everything, but I feared that it was something

worse for Habib. Maybe being trapped in that cocoon had done more than I knew. I couldn't know really, and didn't seem that the poor fellow had any plans on telling me about it, so I knew we'd have to stop very soon lest bad turn to worse. However, I didn't want to stop until we had made it out of that accursed desert.

It turned out to be another hour before we reached the entrance (for us, it was the glorious exit we so strived for). Undoubtedly, both of us were ready to pass out from dehydration and exhaustion. It was amazing our muscles still worked properly. It had to be luck, no other force would have been able to drive us out of that desert alive. It was hard to tell whether either of us could be considered alive. All I had to do was take one look over at Habib to realize just close to an untimely end we really were. The color was gone from the poor fellow's face. He looked terrible, in all honestly.

It struck me that, most likely, I would lose Habib as a companion as well. He would make a third. I will have lost three different companions over the course of this journey. That thought, that knowledge alone, felt like a dagger through my poor, broken heart. I wondered if, maybe, I was cursed. It would only be the plausible thing to assume, considering all the terrible hardships I've had to overcome so far. I have lost my Uncle, I have had to leave the Princess alone, I have frightened Makar to the point where he hates me, and I have broken Beth's heart, just as I have broken my own, and it would seem that I have run Habib to the point of death. I wanted to scream. I wanted to just scream until I fell to the ground and began to cry my heart out. I thought it would only remain in my head.

"Some hero I am!" I gasped, letting it slip without a second thought.

Habib struggled to raise his head to look at me.

"Who told you were a hero?" He asked, but I could not tell if his question was sincere, or meant as a way to scold me.

"I don't think it matters anymore, really." I admitted.

"You've given up? He asked in return.

I allowed my eyes to shoot up and glare at him, only to be met with a pair of eyes plagued with an unbearable sadness. I did not know how to answer, as I was taken back at the thought that maybe he had already given up before me. I unconsciously shook my head at that thought. That was surely the last thing I wanted to dwell upon.

"What do you think I should do?" I asked back, not catching the harshness of my voice.

Habib said nothing, but shook his head.

"We've got to make it to town." I said. "If we make it anywhere, it has to be Kakariko Village."

I swore that I saw Habib shake his head at that. Most likely, he was contemplating falling to the ground and allowing himself to fall unconscious as a means to recover some sort of energy, but I could never even think about it. It was not because I thought I was any better than Habib but that I was too much of a coward to give in. If I were to give up this far in, I would have only given up at the beginning. That was what scared me, the thought that this entire journey, or whatever it was, would be filled with this horror. That was what slowly began to kill off my motivation, if I had any.

"So, we must." Habib murmured breathlessly.

I blinked at him.

"Can you make it?" I asked.

He turned his head to face the ground, bowing it slightly.

"Is that a no, then?"

I noticed he shook his head.

"You can make it?"

Again, I got no response to that question, which only just slightly frustrated me. I gave a sigh, and was returned one from him, seeming that it would be the only response I'd get out of the guy. I noticed that I had a pounding headache erupting in head which served to drive me to the point of insanity, and I had wished that was an exaggeration.

I tried to focus on the question of just, how far away from Kakariko Village we were. We had come out of the basin of the desert, so we were now only a few miles away from the marshes, and past that, a bit further, would have been where my house was. The thought of my house no longer being there cut me deep. I was a wanderer now. I had no home, nothing to look forward to but this seemingly terrible journey which might just end in an even worse manner.

It was hard to describe the sort of overwhelming stress that I was experiencing at that point.

Habib and I traveled in silence for about a half of an hour, before we found that we were on the outskirts of the city. Matter-of-factly, both of us knew in some way that things were not right here. We did not see anything, nor hear anything that lead us to this conclusion, but I had a gut feeling that something was certainly wrong, and I wanted to know it was.

Habib and I noticed our first given clue that something was up, and that was a lack of people, which in itself was strange, as even on the outskirts, Kakariko Village was usually bustling.

Only moments later, we heard screaming.


	27. Turmoil

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Here's chapter twenty-eight for you all! I'm finally going to set up a system as to write. If I'm doing hard-writing, then I'm going to set a goal of 350 words a day, which will roughly put a week between each chapter I publish. I don't have a set schedule for any of the storys I have currently, or new ones, but you will be able to expect chapters. Once a week, of course. At least, this way, there won't be a massive three-week gap between each chapter. Thank to all of you who have waited sp patiently for each new chapter. It means so much to me.**

**Chapter 28: "Turmoil"**

My poorly exhausted form was not far from completely shrugging off that scream, but I would never have been able to live down not helping someone in trouble, supposedly, a hero's curse if I had ever heard of one. Habib seemed to take more notice to the situation than I at that moment. I wasn't sure what to think of that, but I was a bit surprised by it, seeing how I was still under the assumption that he should have been passed out on the floor by now, but by some factor or force, he was still able to walk. Habib acted before me and started walking off toward the scream, moving in a sort of shabby jog. Still, I admired his determination to investigate the situation. Though, not many bad things happened in Kakariko from what I can recall. Thankfully, the scream was not as far off as I had originally perceived it to be. It's saved both of us from spending any more energy that we didn't have.

The source of the scream seemed to come from one of the less prominent streets in the village, which was surprising as we had expected it to come from a busier area of the village such as the Square. We moved toward the source until we finally could see what was going on. Apparently, a guard had been abusing one of the village women. We approached them quietly, hoping not to act too brashly or hastily as the last thing we needed was to be found out by an agent of the evil wizard. We were in no shape to be able to deal with a situation like that, But we couldn't just let this sort of thing happen without it justice being done. Although it sounds cliché, it was the were the good guys, and as far as we knew, the guards were the bad guys. So, it was our job to make sure that the bad guys didn't torment the citizens of Kakariko.

Still, neither of us had any idea as to how to resolve the situation. All we could do right now was listen and wait for an opportunity to act.

"Let me go, you bastard!" The distressed woman cried out. "You'll pay for this, you rotten, filthy, terrible fiend!"

I could make out a smirk on the obviously stronger guard's face. He seemed amused by the woman's feeble attempts to escape, and was just watching for the sake of entertainment. No matter how much I put my mind to it, I could not think of a way to save the woman. Maybe, it was because I was too tired to think. That would've been a legitimate excuse on my part, despite how weak it would have seemed. My attention was returned to the happening before me when I heard the guard give a long, drawn out cackle. It sounded incredibly menacing.

"You're a petty woman." The guard said, mocking her. "What makes you think that you're going to be saved? We have obviously forced this village into submission. Everyone is too afraid to go outside for fear of having to deal with us. No one would be stupid enough to dare their home in a attempt to save the likes of you."

I watched with a sort of horror about me, as my mind raced to find a way around this guy. I then noticed Habib lean over to whisper something to me.

"We need to move to the behind of this guy. I think I might have a way to take him out." He told me. "If we can find a way to get his sword without him noticing, we might be able to solve the problem more promptly."

I gave him a nod, and rose up a bit to look around the street we were on. Unfortunately, it was incredibly narrow. That made it hard for us to even move the other side of the street without being noticed. Habib seem to notice this as well, and leaned back in to tell me something else.

"This is going to be harder than I had thought." He told me. "One of us will have to provide a better distraction than just this woman. The other one will have to go to work getting around this guy without being noticed."

I thought about this for a moment before replying.

"You will have to do the distracting. I'm afraid that if I go around showing my face, one of the guards might recognize me from before. They'll have a harder time recognizing you, because you haven't been around here as much as I have."

Habib nodded at that and turned to look back at the woman and the guard. I could tell by the look on his face that he was already thinking of a way to distract the guard enough for me to move. Honestly, I was terrible at coming up with these sort of plans, so I was glad Habib was doing it, regardless if he was actually better than I was at it.

"Alright, Link. Get going. You're only going to have a small window of time to move around him." Habib said, before moving out into the street towards the two.

I did just what he said and got up. I wasted no time in remaining there and hurried to the other side of the street, taking refuge in between two of the village houses, bracing myself against the wall of the house facing the way we came.

"So, you were able to coax someone into coming to your aid. He ain't gonna get far, sorry to say." The guard spit. He took the woman and threw her on the ground, taking a stance in preparation to deal with Habib.

Once I was sure that Habib had the guard's attention, I swung around the corner and moved as close along the fronts of the houses as I could. I kept myself moving as low and as fast as I could without making too much noise. Habib did a surprisingly good job keeping that guy away from me.

"Ah, come on, you pesky boy! Stop dancing!" The guard blurted out in frustration, trying to grab Habib. It seemed Habib's skill in evasion was much too great for the guard's groggy, uncoordinated movements. If overconfidence was not this guard's downfall, it was nobody's. His downfall was soon to meet him, seeing how I had finally managed to get behind him. I anxiously waited for the right moment to snatch the sword from his belt. I had no idea how long it could have taken for the right opportunity to reach out at him.

Habib, on the other hand, could not have dwelled on that for long, as he had to have directed the majority, if not all of his efforts to avoiding the guard's grasp. Habib was slowly, visibly growing tired. Once Habib had exhausted himself, he stumbled back and fell half-way to the ground, breathing heavily. The guard took this moment to stand in his victory with a terribly mocking stance and attitude. The woman had scurried back and was now watching me.

"So, that's the end to you, huh?" He asked in the middle of a deep chuckle. "Puny dog. Now I'll-" He started to announce, but he stopped and looked down, shivering. He realized he had been stabbed clean through with his own sword. Almost like a drunkard, he turned around to face me. The look of shock on his face at the realization that he had been bested without a fight was something I had never seen before. I watched his mouth mutter silent words and thought that what he said to me was some sort of curse, though, I couldn't know for sure. Regardless, those were his last words before he fell rather quickly to the ground, causing a deep rumble of his crash to sound.

There was silence afterwards. I stared at the the newly-made corpse with a blank expression on my face, though, I, myself, was shocked. I noticed Habib looking at me for a moment, slowly, yet heavily breathing. I couldn't tell exactly what the expression on his face was, but soon, he sat down on the ground and looked off into space. The woman we had been in the process of saving continued to exchange glances at Habib and I, as if she expecting us to do something to her.

I broke out of my trance and dropped the sword next to the body.

"Now he won't bother you." I said, though not realizing how quiet that had come out.

The woman glanced at me and set her eyes on mine. She had seemed to not hear what I said.

"He won't bother you again." I said, making an effort to be more audible.

The woman understood and nodded. "Thank you, sirs." She said.

The woman was a thin, tall, brunette woman who was in her mid-twenties at first glance. She slowly got up from being on the ground and brushed herself off. I looked over at her finally, and Habib looked over at me.

"Has this been a reoccurring issue here?" I asked her.

She nodded. "It has been for some time now, actually." She said. "There was a massive influx of guards into the village out of nowhere, and then they all began to abuse the townspeople. They've frightened all of them."

I frowned. That was definitely something that I was not looking forward to hearing about. It caused me to think what would bring about such a sudden shift in concentration. Sure, the guards had always been hostile since the wizard took over, but not like this. This was different, and in no way good.

I gave a heavy sigh. "Well, alright. Thanks for the info. I suggest you find somewhere safe to be." I told her, and was responded to with a nod before the lady left.

I looked to Habib. "We should probably go find somewhere we could stay now. There's no doubt both of us are ready to pass out."

Habib managed a dry laugh. "There is now no doubt to that at all." He said, before getting up. He brushed himself off and sighed. "Any idea where you want to stay?" He asked me.

I scratched my head in thought for a moment. "Well, the cheapest place to stay would be to stay at the inn in the main square of the village. We'll crash there for a while, then, well, we'll go from there." I said, though, that last statement had awoken a fear I had been suppressing for some time, and unfortunately, it had seemed that Habib had noticed.

"What's got you troubled?" He asked, though the way he said it gave that he knew exactly what it was. "You're afraid I'm going to leave you?" He asked.

"Yes." I said quickly, and began walking.

He hurried up beside me. "Link, don't worry yourself over a question like that. How can you be so sure that I'd be that quick to ditch you?" He asked.

"Well, it's happened before..." I had admitted.

"Don't assume things so quickly." He told me. "Just 'cause it happened once, don't mean it'll happen again immediately afterward."

I gave him a slight smile. "Yeah, thanks." I said.

We made our way to the main square as efficiently as possible, trying not to spend any more energy. Surprising, and despite what the lady had told us, the square fairly busy. It would have seemed that even fear of the guards could not stop the daily functions of the village, and that made me laugh a bit, though, I did it quietly.

The nearest inn was near many shops, though I knew it was a cozy place, and that was exactly what the both of us were in need of. As we approached, I noticed someone running towards me.


	28. Reunion

_Author's Note: Well, I'm quite proud of myself for pushing out this chapter in the manner I did. It only took me five days instead of seven, and all the better, the contents is 2,100 words long! That's my longest so far, and boy, I hope you all are as excited as I am. Feedback would be wonderful! Also, feel free to check out my other stories that I have on here. Next week's chapter will most likely be the pilot for a Star Wars related fic. So, thank you all and good night._

**A Hero Alone - Chapter 29: "Reunion"**

I was a fool to not notice exactly who was dashing towards at that moment. It should have been considered as an insult that I failed to come to the realization that the person who was closing in on me at that moment was none other than Beth. She was moving so fast as she made her way toward me and by the way her appearance seemed to burst into a fit of happiness at the sight of me. She did not hold the same grudge that Makar had held against me. I had always known that she held no grudge whatsoever. It was merely moments before she was right in front of me. She dropped her stuff and nearly tackled me in a hug. I was stunned, and Habib merely watched with a smirk on his face.

"Link!" She exclaimed. "I thought I'd not see you again!"

I hesitantly hugged her back, though I was undoubtedly happy to see her as well. It was hard to say goodbye to her after Makar had made the decision to leave.

"Beth, I'm so glad to see you, too!" I replied, actually hugging her now. "Where is Malachi and Makar? How have you all been?" I asked her.

She finally let go of her hold on me and took a step back, smiling brightly.

"We're all fine, of course." She told me. "Malachi is safe at home, and Makar... Well, he's been gone for a few days now. Malachi had sent him on some errands out of town."

I smiled. "I'm glad to hear that you are all alright." I said to her. "What's been going on here at the village?" I asked.

She shrugged and picked up her things.

"Things have been pretty strange around here recently, actually." She told me.

I raised an eyebrow in question. "Does it have anything to do with the increase in activity of the soldiers?" I asked.

She nodded. "They seem to just show up out of nowhere. On top of that, their attitudes have changed as well. They used to be drones before, but they've grown aggressive. The wizard is behind it, I'd not doubt it." She told me.

I gave a nod in response. "I've only just returned from a dungeon with a second pendant. Habib here was willing to help out, though, of course, it wasn't easy."

She looked interested at hearing that. "The second pendant! Wonderful! You have only one more to go, then?" She asked.

Again, I nodded. "I'd be headed to Death Mountain next." I told her.

"What are you going to do afterward?" She asked.

"I'm going to go to the Lost Woods. The only way I'd be able to beat the wizard is if I have the sword of legend. The prophet told me that I'd find it somewhere there."

"Sounds like an adventure, no doubt. How are you holding up?" She asked me.

I shrugged. "It isn't easy. We're both beat. It's a miracle we're both standing." I said, giving a tired smile.

She looked to her left and inspected the tiny inn that Habib and I were planning to stay at. "Well, you're looking for a place to stay, aren't you? Why don't both of you come home with me? Malachi wouldn't mind at all. I'd assume he'd be excited to see you."

I gave her a brighter smile. "That does sound tempting, but what about Makar? What would he do if he returned to find me there?"

Beth sighed and thought for a moment, but shook her head. "He'll just have to accept the fact that you are here. I wouldn't doubt he's still mad or worried about what happened, but he's had some time to let it settle with him, so hopefully he won't be so cross with you." She said. "Still, I don't believe he took the right course of action in just leaving, but I couldn't stop that..."

I shook my head at her response. "There wasn't anything you could have done about it. I was responsible for him getting hurt and should have done more."

Beth didn't seem to think the same way, though. "You're one person, Link. Of course, you've already done some pretty remarkable things by yourself, but you should now that you can't do everything. It was an accident, plus, we knew of the danger when we agreed to go with you up that mountain. You shouldn't feel so guilty about it." She told me. She then looked to Habib, and back to me. "Well, come on. You both look like you're gonna die right in front of me, so I'll get you both home so you can relax."

I gave a happy, relieved smile. Habib, on the other hand, was giving a rather obscure smirk in response. Apparently, he had a certain thought going through his head and I had actually taken notice of it, so I glared at him for a moment as we followed Beth. Habib met my gaze and kept that smirk of his from diminishing, which eventually led me to sigh. "I sincerely hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." I said to him, making sure that Beth wouldn't catch a note of it. My suspicions were confirmed when his smirk only grew wider. "Ah! Habib! Come on, don't think like that!" I replied, albeit a bit too loudly.

Habib looked on the edge of laughing after hearing that from me. "What?" He asked. "Do you claim to read minds now?"

I was furious with him now, and unfortunately, it was obvious. Beth had taken notice, but she kept walking, though, she was listening in to the conversation now.

"You are terrible, Habib! Absolutely terrible." I replied to him. "How could you think like that, honest?"

"Ah, you're just making assumptions, my friend." He said. "You don't know what I am thinking, nor do you have a way to prove that I'm thinking exactly what you're assuming."

His response earned a sigh from me, and I finally shut up, drifting slightly away from him. I could hear him quietly chuckling though, so I quickened my pace and caught up to Beth so I was walking side by side with her. I noticed that there was a smile on her face as well, which caused me to sigh again.

We finally made it to the house of Malachi. It looked no different than when I had first been brought here, which I assumed was a good thing. Beth went for the front door and held it open for us. We entered and she followed, calling out into the house. "Malachi, I'm back." She said, and although a response was to be expected, none came. This puzzled me, so I asked Beth about it.

"Is there something wrong with Malachi?"

Beth shrugged. "He's grown rather quiet since we left here. I noticed it a lot when we first got back. Though, the first night we spent here after our return, Makar and Malachi had an argument."

"Oh, really? Do you know what it was about?" I asked, though I knew whatever the answer was, that it wasn't going to be a pleasant one.

"Well, you could probably guess what it was about..." She murmured. "Malachi hadn't expected us to return home so soon, and Malachi rudely told him what the issue about it was. I'm not sure what all it involved, but it did get loud, and then it was silent."

I sighed quietly. "I'm sorry... That could have been prevented."

"Again, no, it's not your fault, Link." Beth said to me. "Makar has just been on edge the entire time we've been back."

"That's certainly not something good to hear about." I said.

She shrugged in response. "No sense in breaking down over it..."

I wanted to say more about it, but her attention seemed to captured by something else, or else, an absence. I assumed it had to do with the fact that Malachi had yet to show. The answer to where we was quickly became known, as the elder suddenly showed up at the front door. He was out of breath and did not seem to take great surprise at the fact that Habib and I were also in the house. Beth quickly ran over to support him, leading him inside to sit down. Malachi was muttering inaudible words.

"Grandfather! What is the matter?" Beth asked, distressed at his appearance.

Malachi only continued to mutter on about something that we couldn't understand. All the information that we were able to catch was complete ambiguous.

"Maybe he needs something to drink?" Habib suggested. "It might actually calm him down."

Beth looked over and nodded, taken aback by this sudden arrival of her grandfather.

"I'll fetch it." I said, and took off for the kitchen. It did not take me long to get it, which that meant it did not take me very long to return. Malachi was getting clearer now, but still speaking nonsense. I hurried the glass over to Beth, but Malachi snatched it from my hands hastily and started to drink in. It was soon drained. He began to breath heavily again, but this time due to having taken in that water so fast. Once he had control of himself, he turned to us and shook his head. "They took him." He said.

All three of us gave him a confused look. At that moment, we didn't know as to what he was referring to, but Habib and I caught on when Beth's expression became one of horror.

"What do you mean?" She stammered. "You don't mean Makar, do you?

Malachi nodded. "Precisely."

"How do you know?" I asked. "Beth said that he went off by himself away from Kakariko."

Malachi looked at me and sighed. "He was being transported to the castle with several others. I saw the convoy that he was in."

"You mean to tell me that they're rounding up people? What reason could they have for doing that?" I continued to ask.

Malachi shrugged. "Even I have but the slightest clue. The wizard is being secretive with every action he commits. He's playing out of his hand."

"Well, we've got to save him." I said. "Along with everyone else that are trapped up in that castle."

"Link, I know you want to do all that you can, but you're not ready to confront the wizard yet." Malachi said.

"Who said I needed to fight the wizard?" I replied. "I've been in that castle before, right under his nose. I can do it again."

Malachi shook his head slowly. "It's almost a suicide mission."

"What alternative do we have?" I asked him. "We don't know what is going to happen to everyone taken up there, if anything. Not only will be saving lives, we may learn a thing or two about Agahnim's plans."

"I cannot argue with you on that point." He said. "It is crucial that we learn something fast."

Beth and Habib were both watching me. I assumed that they were surprised by the fact that I was so quick to take up the task.

"And what are you plans of getting in? When will you leave?" Malachi asked.

I thought about this. Though, I was questioning why he was so quick to demand my methods. Surely, he didn't think I'd have a plan ready to go the minute I offered to go. He expected more than I could have delivered if that was the case.

"I'm not sure about that yet." I admitted.

"You cannot go at all then." Malachi said. Habib and I glared at such a response coming from him, and Beth actually gasped.

"Grandfather! You cannot be serious!" Beth exclaimed.

"I am very serious." Malachi replied. "If Link cannot think on his toes, then going would be a suicide mission for him."

"You asked me right after I offered! You can't expect that I come up with a full-bodied plan in seconds!" I said.

He merely shook his head. "You're taking up a mission that is out of your league. How do you really plan to enter the castle? Through the main gate, as a house guest?" He asked. "You'd be anxious before you took your seventh step."

I quickly turned away from him and raised a hand up to my forehead in disbelief. My green amulet which I kept tucked underneath my tunic got free and hit my arm. That was all it took for me to know how to get in.


	29. Decisions

_Author's Note: Hello everyone, sorry for taking so long for this chapter. I've actually had it written up for a while now, but my wifi box broke and I had to order a new one, which took a whole two weeks to get. Any reviews, follows, and favorites are greatly appreciated! See you all in the next chapter!_

**Chapter 30: "Decisions"**

Link had felt as if he'd repeated that same line so many times he'd lost count. Beth just didn't seem to budge. He knew she meant well, but this was too dangerous, and he had learned his lesson before. It was bad enough that he'd taken Habib into that desert dungeon with him. Habib was nearly a feast for a gigantic spider! Also, the injuries that Makar had sustained on that mountain still lingered heavily in both of their minds. It was a miracle of the Goddess that Beth had made it through all of it without a scratch. Yet, all of those dangers were nothing compared to entering so close to the foe they were up against. Anything could happen in there, and Link felt as if he'd not be able to do his duty if Beth were to come any closer to danger.

He was sure that he'd never be able to forgive himself if she got hurt in any way. He was still regretting every little ounce of hurt that felt upon Habib and Makar, but he'd never survive seeing Beth hurt, so there was no chance that she'd let her go. Unfortunately, it would seem Beth would have none of it. Link was only just touching the tip of her stubbornness. She was firmly set on the idea that she was going with him, despite the danger.

Link sighed heavily, looking up slightly.

"Beth, I can't let you go. Your grandfather needs you here and it's too much of a risk for you to be in that castle with me." He explained yet another time.

The young woman would never take no for an answer.

"You need an extra set of eyes and ears." She countered. "You'll stress yourself out if you go in there alone. Even worse, you might do something stupid."

Link hiffed and looked at her. "There hasn't been a dungeon yet where someone hasn't gotten hurt. Makar was, Habib was, which would only mean you'd get hurt if you went in there with me."

Beth shook her head slowly. "If you went all by yourself, you'd get hurt and then there'd be no one around to help you. Link, you need someone with you."

Link sighed when he realized this conversation was getting him nowhere. He tasked his mind with ways of ending this with his wishes, but just one look at Beth's steady eyes was all that was needed for Link to know he'd never be able to convince her against what she felt was the best course of action. He took a moment to reflect on her words. They sounded so right to him. He'd not get very far by himself, despite the fact that every time he'd bring someone with him on these dangerous excursions, they'd get hurt. What could he do about it? It this tragic fate of his racked his brain. He decided that he hated it with all of being and began to wish he was back in that little cabin in the fields he called home, listening to his ancient uncle constantly babble on about how he needed to learn responsibility else he'd never make through life. Link dropped his head slightly at this particular memory. He found it ironic that he recalled a talk on responsibility than anything else. What was he responsible for? So far, the only things he could think of were that he was responsible for letting both Makar and Habib get hurt. He was responsible for the fact that Makar thought of him as a monster and nothing more. He'd go on and blame himself for the death of his uncle but he decided it was fruitless to dwell on something he couldn't change now, which he soon carried on with assuming that to both the injuries and Makar's idea of him.

He was responsible for the safety of Hyrule, as it seemed no one else would throw their lives on the line to fight off a terribly powerful wizard who was threatening all the good in this word. If he owed Makar, Habib, Beth, or even his uncle anything, it was that he ridded the land of that accursed wizard. He took a moment to focus on Beth's face. She'd not moved at all, despite this silence. Why did she care so much? He was just some boy that her grandfather decided to send off to the mountains all those weeks before, though Beth and Makar tagged along regardless. Though Makar probably regretted it all now, Link noticed that Beth held no grudge against him, not before when Makar was first injured, and not now as Makar is sitting in a cell somewhere in the castle.

It baffled him, no doubt, that she could be that forgiving with him, though he'd not failed to realize that she did not come to harm once so far. That probably would change things, and if Link let her go with him, he'd lose that too. He shuddered, knowing now what he'd do.

"Fine, Beth. I'll let you go." Link said, trying his best not to let his speech drop and give away his true intentions.

Beth bought it and smiled widely, looking as if she was ready to laugh.

"Wonderful, Link!" She said. "I won't let you down. Trust me, you're doing the right thing."

Link gave a sad smile in response to her.

"Yeah, I hope I am." He said back to her. "We'll leave first light of the morning sun tomorrow."

Beth nodded and rose up from her seat. "Sounds like a plan." She surprised Link when she hugged him. Link didn't know what to think of this - what it meant for them, and at that moment, Link knew he was doing the right thing.

It did not take long for Beth to fall asleep. Link feigned sleep for a while when she was still awake, but sat up in his bed when he was sure that it was late enough into the night that she wasn't awake. He'd decided to leave without her, even if she was right in that he'd not make it on his own, then such was his fate, and he'd not risk the well-being of Beth. His heart began to ache ever since he'd made this decision, but it was for the best, and he fervently hoped that this was the right thing to do.

Link also assumed that Malachi was fast asleep as well. He hadn't told Malachi much of his plan, but this worked in his favor. If Beth had ideas of following Link, then Link assumed Malachi would go against it. Malachi wouldn't risk Beth as well. Link could already tell from the few conversations he had with Malachi that he was worried and somewhat cross with him.

Link stood as silently as he could and shouldered his pack. The entire house was covered in darkness, which sent a sense of fear into Link. He exaggerated his steps to cover more distance with less of them. In this fashion, he grappled his way through the house until he reached the front door, but from there, he could just make out the burning of embers from a pipe. Upon this discovery, he hitched his breath.

"Malachi?" He questioned into the darkness.

There was a pause.

"She will follow you regardless of what you or I do." He said so sharply, it made his voice come off somewhat menacingly.

"It's safer for her here... I couldn't stand her getting hurt." Link replied, looking at the door before him.

"She'll be hurt either way." Malachi told him.

"I have to fix this problem myself though. I owe it to her and to Makar. Even if I can't beat the wizard, I can free her brother." Link said.

"I have no doubt of that, even if you don't come out the same way you are currently." Malachi agreed.

"You aren't worried about me?" Link questioned.

"By the Goddess, of course I am, but I'm not going to do something rash and try to stop you from doing what needs to be done." Malachi said to him.

Link gave a soft noise of satisfaction, though that transformed into a sigh. The look in his eye at that moment, which whether or not Malachi could see was not known, gave away Link's true exhaustion. It was not physical but a mental fatigue and Link tried to shrug it off.

"You've been doing that through it all, Link." Malachi noted.

"Hmm? Oh. I haven't noticed." Link murmured.

"Trust me, my boy. You are able." Malachi promised.

Link smiled softly and opened the door a ways. He looked over at Malachi one last time before facing forward outside, then, he started walking.


End file.
